My Son's Heart-Pounding White Day

March 14th is White Day.

Since I had an unavoidable commitment, I entrusted the making of White Day return gifts to my husband.
Apparently, he is making cookies.

I'm counting on you, husband!

When I returned home, a delicious smell was wafting all the way to the entryway.

Sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff...

I entered the room while sniffing the air at that scent.

"It smells so goooooood! Oh! Is this it? Wow, amazing!!"

Lined up on the plate were cute cookies of various shapes and sizes.

"He's apparently going to give that big heart-shaped cookie to H-chan."

My husband told me that, and when I glanced at my son, he was grinning.
In addition to the big heart cookie, we decided to include a large chocolate chip cookie and two smaller cookies each.

It was 6:00 PM.
H-chan was at ballet, so we were supposed to get a message when she got home.
They said it would be around 7:00 PM.

"Hey, do you want to write a message to H-chan?"

When I prepared a message card for him, my son brought over a ruler.

Nice! So meticulous!

"How do you write 'ho'?"

I placed a hiragana chart in front of him.

My son wrote carefully, confirming each character out loud with all his might.

For some reason, my heart felt a squeeze.
Yes, yes.
That's fine, that's fine.
That is perfect.

"I'm done!"

I think it's a very wonderful message.

My son chose the envelope, stickers, and bag in H-chan's favorite colors, and I helped him wrap it.

Alright.
Now all that's left is to wait for a reply.
I'm more nervous than my son is.

Ding
It's here!

"O-kun! H-chan is back! Let's go!"

With my smartphone in one hand, and my son holding an envelope and cookies, we said,Here we go!

"W-what should I say?"
"How about 'Happy White Day! Great job at ballet!'?"
"...Is 'Happy White Day' enough on its own?"
"I think that's fine!"

While putting on his shoes, my son practiced saying "Happy White Day, Happy White Day" over and over.

Pfft.

"Hm?!"

It was my son's fart.

"Thank goodness, glad that came out now."

Maybe he was so nervous he let one out. He did his usual hair check in the mirror. I got my smartphone ready to record.
He did his usual hair check in the mirror.
I got my smartphone ready to record.

Ding-dong

"Coming!"

The voice of a cute little princess.

Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump...
Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump...

Click
H-chan appeared.

"Happy White Day."

Your voice is so quiet.

"Thank you!!"

H-chan, so polite, bows her head and accepts it with both hands.
She's really grown into a young lady.
My son is shaking slightly.
As usual, he doesn't say a word.
So, I can't help but talk to the cute little princess in front of us.

"Thanks for coming by even though you're tired from ballet!"
"Oh, I have a recital coming up soon, so..."
"Oh, I see! That's right!"
"I'll do my best at ballet! Please come watch!"
"I will! I'll definitely come watch!"

Sparkling eyes.
How adorable.



"Come on, come on, stand next to each other."

Click, click

The mothers snap photos.
It's so kind of them to let us take a photo of the two of them together.

"See you later~ Bye-bye~~ Thanks so much~~~~"

My son, you're grinning from ear to ear.

"I'm glad you were able to give it to her."

Pfft

“Hmm?!”

My son farted again.
Modestly.

“I’m glad it didn’t come out earlier.”

Does he still end up farting even when he’s relieved?

They let us mothers be by their side again this year.
A front-row seat.
Surely next year... won't happen, right?
I wonder.
He’s already a third grader, after all.

Third grade starting this spring, huh.
Has it really been two full years since he graduated kindergarten?
Since he doesn't go to school and I'm still with him all the time, a part of me feels like time has stopped back there.

But seeing H-chan, who has become so grown-up in how she responds, and my son, who gets shy and won't say a word (though that's always been the case), and seeing how much they've both grown, I realize that time is definitely moving forward.

In the chilly night air, I suddenly thought about that and felt a bit lonely, but my son's cute fart immediately tickled my heart.

A little while later, a video was sent to us.
“Mmm~~!! Delicious! It’s the best!!”There was the cute little princess, eyes wide and giving a thumbs-up.
When I showed it to my son, he grinned and got all bashful again.

I say this every time, but I'm going to say it again.

Won't you become my son's bride someday?

We are fully prepared to welcome you anytime.
Thank you, as always.