A first grader's free notebook is a lifelong treasure.

There are only a few days left until my son finishes his first year of elementary school.

Over this past year, my son has brought home a "souvenir" almost every single day.

When he opens the door, he usually says, "I have something really great today! Guess what it is?" and, unable to wait, throws his backpack aside and rummages through it to pull something out.

His latest obsession seems to be meat.
A giant, papier-mâché piece of meat reminiscent of the one from the manga 'Giatrus'.

Ever since he brought this meat home from the after-school program one day, he has been mass-producing new ones no matter how many times I throw them away.
Sometimes he even puts a piece of meat in his backpack to take to school. Why so much...?

When I asked him what on earth he uses them for,
it seems that one of his friends, who acts like Gian, plays the role of a monster, and they all use the meat to tame him (lol).
Apparently, once tamed, the monster acts affectionately or fights on their behalf, so that's what the meat is for.

His games change all the time, and each time, he hands me things like menko cards, shrinky dinks, or paper cup kendamas, telling me, "Don't throw these away," and the souvenirs keep piling up. (I've been disposing of them little by little.)

But, first grade is almost over, after all.
I was planning to just toss everything out along with his old textbooks and handouts, but when I was organizing them, I found his free notebooks from this past year to be so precious that I decided to keep them carefully in my treasure box.

My son used a total of five free notebooks in first grade.
Four of these are filled from cover to cover with drawings and text.

And these notebooks are truly free—they were used for such a variety of purposes that it was fascinating.

1. Creating an Adventure Log
Example: Creating original dungeons based on characters from Minecraft or Dragon Quest. Each page features a maze or drawings of character houses. Apparently, he uses his fingers as characters to play with them.

2. Creating an Original Encyclopedia
Example: From a star encyclopedia (self-made) found somewhere, about Zombie Star:

Is there air on Zombie Star?
No. But zombies breathe a gas called "Dating."
However, if a human breathes it, they might die. (Omitted)
So, you must keep your space helmet on at all times if you want to stay alive.

3. The Year's Hot News (According to my son)
Example: November 11, 2023
So-and-so came back with a broken leg and, believe it or not, brought crutches.

February 9, 2024
So-and-so apparently played games for a whopping 13 hours in one day.

Note: Every news entry includes the date he learned it and the word "believe it or not," conveying his sense of surprise.

4. After-school Event Schedule Memo

He has copied down an entire year's worth of dates for when he can make shrinky dinks or play dodgeball, which are posted at the children's center.

I sometimes see him take out this notebook, compare it with the calendar, and check his schedule like a grown-up, saying things like, "The next dodgeball game is on the 17th, huh..." Is he a genius?

5. Self-Made Problem Sets
Example: There are 80 cats. There are 50 dogs. Which one has more, and by how many?

He even includes "by how many" when asking which is more. Even if it's just dogs and cats... I'm impressed by the wide range of topics, including multiplication, word problems, and clocks.

6. Kanji List

Kanji pages appear here and there. For some reason, this seems to be very popular with those around him, and apparently, everyone started copying him and writing in their own free notebooks. Why?

7. Creating Fictional Overpowered Characters

Apparently, both its attack and defense power are infinite.
But, they say if you attack its backside when it's stuck after swinging its axe down, you can defeat it.
Is it... a bit of a fool?

8. Fantasies about monsters I want to keep as pets
Example: Taking care of a Hydra
First, feed it beef and give it water to drink.
Next, sing it a song (When You Wish Upon a Star, or Country Roads). And if it looks happy, it will even invite you to its home.

*The choice of songs to sing is adorable.

9. Making Hyakunin Isshu cards

Apparently, by making the first and second halves of the poems into cards, you can practice grabbing them yourself. A high-degree-of-freedom technique that involves cutting up parts of the free notebook.

There are tons of things like this, but it's a notebook where the inside of his seven-year-old mind is overflowing.
It's a free notebook, after all; it's almost refreshing to see it used this freely.

His handwriting, his drawings, and the things he's interested in right now.
I wonder if there's anything else that reflects my son as much as this does.

This free notebook has become a treasure that I will continue to secretly enjoy.
I wonder how long he'll keep writing in his free notebook.

Well, I'm looking forward to seeing how things change in the second grade, and it seems my secret free notebook collection will continue.