[True Story] The 'Shower of Words' a Tokyo University Student's Mother Poured onto My 4-Month-Old Baby, and the Realization She Gave Me.

When you hear the phrase 'parent of a Tokyo University student,' what kind of image comes to mind?

An 'education mom' who is glued to her child's side teaching them every day? Or a family that has been buying expensive educational toys and English learning materials since infancy?

Actually, a long time ago, a 'mother of a Tokyo University student' (the mother of my younger brother's friend) came to visit my parents' house. The actions she took and the words she spoke right in front of me were so shocking that they changed my 'view on parenting' 180 degrees.

This time, I will deliver in detail the 'real-life tips for raising a smart child' that I witnessed firsthand—things you could never reach through books or internet research—as well as a real-life follow-up story on how my son grew up after I practiced them in our home.

This content is delivered with confidence to everyone who wishes to 'help their child's talents grow as much as possible' or 'raise a child who can take initiative.'

💡 Shock #1: Giving a 4-month-old baby a full-force 'description of the world'

At the time, my son was only 4 months old.
He was still a tiny baby who couldn't even roll over, let alone speak.

Seeing my son like that, the mother began to talk to him with unbelievable intensity and enthusiasm.

Instead of using baby talk to soothe him, she picked my son up, took him to the window, and spoke to him while showing him the scenery outside like this:

'Shall we look outside? It's sparkling and beautiful, isn't it! Water is flowing, trickling along and flowing into the pond! I wonder if there are any fish there too?? ☺️'

She used a tone and choice of words as if she were treating my 4-month-old baby—who shouldn't have understood the meaning of words yet—as an equal adult.

I was struck by how she turned everything in front of us—the scenery, colors, sounds, and movements—into a shower of beautiful words, pouring them over him until they overflowed.

🧠 The magical conversation that started from 'the day he was born'

My son was 4 months old at the time, but I suddenly thought:
Her son, who became a Tokyo University student, must have grown up bathed in this overwhelming shower of words 'from the day he was born.'

Brain science has shown that the amount of 'rich adult conversation' a child is exposed to in infancy makes a decisive difference in their future vocabulary, reading comprehension, tender sensitivity, and raw intelligence.
The mother did not see her baby, who could not yet speak, as a 'being who understands nothing,' but rather respected him 100% as a 'human being who is absorbing everything in the world.'

📦 Shock #2: 'Out-of-the-box thinking' that turns a house into an attraction

Impressed by the wonderful way she interacted with him during that short time she held him, I couldn't help but ask:
'What kind of games did you play at home when your child was small?'

The answer that came back was far more dynamic than I could have imagined.

'On rainy days, we would push all the furniture and things in the house to the edges, and cover the surrounding walls with cardboard! Then, we would play by throwing balls at each other with all our might inside the room!'

The moment I heard this, I thought, I might never have come up with that myself.

Most parents would tend to set limits, saying things like, 'Don't do that, you'll damage the house,' or 'That's dangerous, go do it outside.'
But the mother of the Tokyo University student was different.
She was putting all her energy into creating ways for her child to safely release their energy and play to their heart's content, even inside the house.

Instead of forbidding them by saying 'No!', she prepared the environment and fully affirmed them by saying, 'It's 100% okay to go all out here!' I am convinced that this overwhelming sense of affirmation became the foundation for the 'unbreakable confidence' (self-esteem) that raised a Tokyo University student.

🚀 What my family practiced and my son's growth after this encounter

I was deeply shocked by this encounter and decided to stop the kind of parenting where I restricted my child for my own convenience.

It wasn't about buying up educational toys. Like that mother, I became conscious of 'creating an environment that turns everything in daily life into learning and play.' The specific actions we practiced at home were the following three.

1. Creating a room where I don't say 'No'

I thoroughly removed anything in the house that he wasn't allowed to touch. By making the living room floor a 'sanctuary where he wouldn't be scolded no matter what he did or how much of a mess he made,' my son acquired the ability to concentrate and immerse himself in play for hours.

2. Talking to him like a play-by-play commentator

Following that mother's example, I constantly put the world in front of us into words and conveyed it to my son while we were out for walks or while I was cooking. It was like, 'Oh, a red car just passed by. It made a fast vroom sound.'

3. Asking, 'Why do you think that?'

I didn't have the parent teach the answer immediately. I thoroughly practiced communication where I would always ask, 'Why do you think it happens like this?'

🎓 Real results from our practice: How has my son grown up now?

It wasn't elite education, nor was I forcing him to sit at a desk and study hard; as a result of raising him while being conscious of an 'environment that doesn't stop curiosity' and a 'shower of words,' my son grew into a 'self-driven child.' I think. 😄 Probably.

His ability to concentrate and take action on things he decided for himself, saying 'I want to do this!', is something that is remarkable even to a parent's eyes.

As a result, my son is now utilizing his strengths and interests to attend a National College of Technology (KOSEN), where he is lively and immersed in studying his favorite specialized field every day.

I can state with certainty that if it weren't for the attitude that the Tokyo University student's mother showed me in her living room back then, my son as he is now, and our family's relaxed style of parenting, would not exist.

🏁 Conclusion

I have been talking as if I understand everything, but in reality, I can hardly call myself a perfect mother. 😂 When my son was small, I didn't have much emotional room to spare, and there were many times when I would get angry emotionally. Reflection and regret are part of the process.

Even so, the one thing that never wavered for me was that 'my child is my treasure'.

When my son was in the first grade of elementary school, he had an assignment to write a letter about the origin of his name.
"You know, for your name, Mommy chose the kanji characters, and then both of your grandfathers coincidentally said the exact same thing, which is how you got that name."
At the end of the letter detailing the story of his birth, there was one thing I just had to convey, so I added this sentence.

"You are Mommy and Daddy's treasure."

Even though I am a flawed person who sometimes gets angry emotionally, I wanted to make sure he knew, no matter what, that I think of him as my treasure.

Then, strangely enough, when my son became a second grader (his homeroom teacher was the same as in the first grade), the title of the class newsletter distributed at the start of the new term had changed to "Treasure Box."

"Oh, I wonder if the teacher also felt that this classroom is filled with many treasures called children."
I still vividly remember the joy that welled up inside me when I realized that.

I believe that if a parent interacts with their child while believing, "This child is a treasure," that feeling will surely be conveyed to those around them, and the entire environment surrounding the child will turn into a warm "treasure box."

Even babies who cannot speak yet understand everything adults say. In fact, they have been listening to their mother's and father's voices since before they were born, while still in the womb.
That is exactly why I want you to talk to them a lot and smile at them a lot starting today. A mother being happy and smiling is, in itself, the greatest happiness for a child.

However, as someone who is almost finished with raising children, there is one thing I feel keenly as a practical issue.

That is, "If you don't have financial leeway, you lose the mental leeway to pour love into your children."

Child-rearing cannot be overcome with idealism alone. It is truly difficult to keep smiling 100% at your children while carrying the anxiety of future educational expenses and daily life. That is precisely why it is so important for parents themselves to learn about money and have peace of mind.

To cultivate financial leeway and a little sense of security, I also recommend starting by selling unused items in your home on Mercari. Even small amounts of money, the experience of generating it with your own power leads to great mental leeway.

Furthermore, if there is anyone who is thinking, "I don't know where to start" or "I want an environment to learn systematically," I recommend taking a look at "Libecity," the online community where I first started learning about financial literacy.

Eliminating financial anxiety will undoubtedly create mental stability for a mother, and that, in turn, will lead to abundant love for her children.

It is okay not to become a perfect parent.
Start by carefully putting the scenery in front of you into words today.
And why not start by enjoying your own days as a mother in a good mood?

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