Children play⚽️ Adults are saved🏫 | Irreplaceable time spent on the school playground✨⏳✨ | Parenting | Individual worries | Small talk has a neutralizing effect | Don't compare | You're not alone | Communication | Psychological safety | Listen to 'Tabibito'🎶

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How are you spending Golden Week?

Before Golden Week,
my second-grade son
was planning to play at the elementary school playground with his close friends.

Yesterday, unfortunately, it rained,
so the outdoor play was postponed.


Saying "See you tomorrow,"
my son and his friend looked a little disappointed.


Today, it was beautifully sunny.


Six second-graders gathered at the playground.


Four boys and two sisters.


As for the adults,
there was one father of the sisters and four mothers.


The children were giving it their all from the start.


Games.
Remote-controlled cars.
Drones.
Airplanes.
Soccer balls.


I thought, "Do they really need all that?" (laughs)



They mastered them all,
and kept playing without ever getting bored.



They go to the same nursery school and after-school care.



They have a relationship built on spending a long time together.



They fight sometimes, but
it's a natural distance for them to be together.



Seeing them like that, I thought,



Ah, this is how human relationships accumulate and grow.

On the other hand, as for the adults—


We brought snacks and tea
and talked the whole time.
Parenting worries.



Parents' illnesses and nursing care.
The reality of double care.
Funny family stories.
And even about our own physical health.


Even though these aren't light topics,



for some reason, the laughter never stopped.

That is surely because
we each know the "difficult times"
the other has been through.

There is no need to put on a front, and we can talk with peace of mind.

Our own failures, family events,
and sometimes even little "stains" on our record,
we have the strength and kindness to turn them into laughter.



The moms who know my "dark period."


That's why I don't have to act tough.


I don't have to pretend I have it all together.


I can just be myself.


Before I knew it, it had all become a funny story.


Even though it should have been so painful.
Even though I was so worried.
We said, "We can laugh about it now, right?"


And so, the story that stayed with me most today.


It was—
A second-grader's bedwetting problem.


Enuresis.


It's actually a very delicate topic.


It's hard to tell people about it.

However, that mom
confided in us while carefully choosing her words.


In that moment, I thought,
Ah, this place is amazing.


I don't have to hide my worries.
I don't have to compare.
It's okay to show my weaknesses.
They will be properly accepted.


And then, I realized something else.


"My worries aren't that big of a deal."


Of course, during my dark period, it was genuinely painful.


I had no room to spare.


But—
When you talk to someone,
when you listen to someone's story,
the weight of your worries changes, doesn't it?


It becomes much lighter.


The time we spent today
was a time that made us feel
"we are not alone," both for the children
and for me.

I realized once again that small talk has a neutralizing effect.

Being able to speak your true feelings like this is apparently called psychological safety.

Thank you for reading this far
♪

May today be
a meaningful time for you, the reader.

🎧Today's recommendation🎶

"Tabibito" (Traveler)

Beautiful Hummingbird

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