🎹 [Extra Edition] The Story of Hawaii and the Alphard That Vanished Beyond the Lessons

Hello, this is Ururun.

Now that my daughter's Chopin struggle has settled down, I'd like to turn back the clock a little and talk about the 'source of our energy' at home.

I have friends whom my whole family cherishes.

🔥 Our meeting was on that 'after-school battlefield'

We met at the after-school care center my daughter attended when she was in the lower grades of elementary school.

It started as a relationship between 'mom friends and dad friends,' but now, it can't be summed up by such lighthearted terms.

Once, we were caught up in an unreasonable dispute and forced to withdraw from the after-school program, a situation that came like a bolt from the blue.

Those days were spent running around with children who had lost their after-school place and become 'after-school strays.'

Having worried together, been angry together, and overcome it together, they are not just friends to me, but 'comrades-in-arms' who survived a harsh battlefield.

🍺 Regular drinking parties and the holy war called spending money 🍺

My husband and I, and the friends bonded by such ties, all love 'having people over' and 'drinking alcohol.'

A common trait among the members is that we all work full-time.

On weekdays, we fight against unreasonable demands and stress at our respective workplaces, working desperately while feeling like our eyes are rolling back in our heads.

That is precisely why the drinking parties that unfold at our home periodically are an essential, ultimate detox. 🍺

Helped by the momentum of the alcohol, the topic eventually slid toward 'children's lessons.'

Recently, as I've been on the verge of rolling my eyes at my daughter's piano training, my true feelings accidentally leaked out. 💦

Listen to this. The energy and money I've been pouring into my daughter's piano lately is incredible. It's not just the lesson fees, but highway tolls, gas money, advice lessons before recitals... What I earned working desperately for a week changes its form in just a few hours over the weekend (lol).

🔥 The championship for who has the biggest 'vanished dream'

At my earnest self-deprecation, my comrades-in-arms leaned in, saying, 'We get it!!'

You're naive, Ururun-san!
laughed Mom Friend A, whose son was on a soccer club team.

Back in the day, if you added up the expedition fees and monthly dues... every time I saw the expedition bus off, I felt like my bonus was driving away bit by bit.

Mom Friend B, from the same club team, nodded deeply.

That's so true! Every weekend, while washing mud-covered practice uniforms, I'd look off into the distance and wonder, 'How much money am I washing right now?' And on top of that, the drop-offs for my daughter's rhythmic gymnastics class overlapped, so I felt like I wanted to use a shadow clone jutsu on the weekends (lol).

Another mom friend continued, not to be outdone.
For us, it's my two daughters' dance. When recital season comes, the costume fees and rehearsal fees are quite something. It's like we're paving the stage with the brand-name bags and travel money we were supposed to buy, and letting them dance on it.

Furthermore, a mom friend whose brother and sister were obsessed with basketball delivered the final blow.
Since both my son and daughter were in basketball, I dropped the concept of 'days off' somewhere along the way. Parents were dragged out to be coaches or referees. Before I knew it, I was spending all day on the gymnasium floor.

And from there, a painful yet funny delusion tournament began: 'If we had that money...'
...We might have been able to renovate our bathroom to the latest model.
...We should have been able to go to Hawaii as a family.
...We would have had a new Alphard sitting in the parking lot.
Everyone froze for a moment and looked off into the distance.

Everyone works full-time. Originally, on our precious days off, we should have been relaxing in a sparkling clean bath, leaning back into the seats of a new car for a drive... or perhaps dreaming of sipping cocktails on a beach in Hawaii.

But the reality is days spent waking up at 5 AM to make bento boxes, putting our own hobbies on the back burner, and gripping the steering wheel of the shuttle car.
I don't have any memory of using time for myself on my days off!

Before we knew it, we became die-hard managers who dedicate all our assets and all our holidays to our 'precious idols' called children.

But after laughing that off, everyone's faces looked somewhat bright.
But you know, Hawaii and cars will eventually become memories or outdated models, but the time we spent cheering from the best seats as our children tried their hardest is priceless, right!

That's right! The mud-covered smiles and the trembling fingers on the keyboard are the best vintage you can only see at that time!

Lively sounds overlap again with the glasses someone raised.
There is no Alphard in the parking lot, and the bath is still old, but in our hearts, the 'laughter with comrades-in-arms' and the 'children's growth,' which shine even brighter, are engraved.
Well then, shall we work hard again starting tomorrow for the next 'single note' and the 'next match'!

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