19 Years of Bento Boxes
My daughter is in her third year of high school.
The number of days left to go to school
is getting very small now.
After the new year, there are only three school days left, including graduation day.
The countdown is almost here.
Tomorrow is the last bento.
Ah, so tomorrow is the day the bento-making finally ends...
I feel a sense of relief,
but also a deep sense of nostalgia welling up inside.
🍙
Making a bento every day
is something I've just taken for granted,
so I haven't really thought much of it, but looking back on the long history since she was in her first year of kindergarten,
I feel like I've walked alongside my child as she grew.
The time I spent making bentos
was the time I spent watching over my daughter...
My heart felt overwhelmed with emotion.
🍙
It has been a long journey.
There were times I struggled with the bento menu,
and times I took shortcuts using frozen foods,
while other moms were making character bentos,
I couldn't make cute ones,
and I felt sorry about that,
but my daughters didn't mind,
as long as their favorite side dishes were inside,
saying they liked them even if the colors were dull,
they didn't have many preferences,
to the point where they said they didn't mind if it was the same every day,
just as long as I didn't include things they disliked,
I was saved by daughters like that.
Even if the bentos were similar every day,
they would say they preferred the bento their mom made,
although sometimes they would buy lunch at the school store,
hearing those words
made me very happy.
🍙
I started making bentos for my eldest daughter,
and after my second daughter started kindergarten, I made two bentos every day,
even after my eldest daughter graduated from high school,
I continued to make bentos for my second daughter,
and 19 years have passed.
19 years...
It's deeply moving...
It's really coming to an end...
When I think about that, I am gently wrapped in a feeling of loneliness.
It feels like I'm being told that their school life is ending...
It's ending.
🍙
Only two bento boxes left.
Since this is the end of making bento boxes, I'll make whatever you want to eat!
I asked my daughter for her request.
Nothing in particular, but...
There is one thing I've always wanted to try.
I want to have a bento box filled with nothing but delicious meat!
Just rice and meat♪
She said she wanted to try a bento box with only high-quality meat.
She meant the high-quality meat from our delicious local butcher shop.
I bought some freshly sliced, delicious meat,
and seasoned it with salt and pepper in the morning, grilling it just like they do on a teppan grill at a restaurant.
Her cheeks will probably drop off with delight today.
I can picture her satisfied face.
And for the very last bento box, she said the usual is fine.
Make it a mentaiko (spicy cod roe) bento box♪
🍙
The school she attended from kindergarten through high school
holds a lot of sentimental value for me as a parent as well.
It's really coming to an end...
The bento boxes, and school as well...
I am feeling a mix of emotions that I cannot quite put into words.
was a letter from my eldest daughter.
~What is packed into a bento box~
For a long time, people around me have pointed out my 'cold' attitude toward my children, saying things like, 'You're not done raising them yet' or 'You should worry about them a little more.'...
Personally, I haven't been able to openly express, 'I love my kids so much! ✨' or 'I love you, you're so cute! 💕'
and when I imagine myself as a child,
I find that I would have felt such a parent was 'annoying.'
While in my heart I think my children are 'cute and I love them so much! ✨💕',
I don't want to be an 'annoying' parent; I want to maintain a comfortable distance!
The inner child in me detests the feelings of a doting parent...
Yet, people around me say that even though I seem detached, I am very devoted to my children...
Such conflicting feelings have always existed within me.
I'm glad you're my mom!
My daughters sometimes mutter these words.
It is a truly happy thing to hear.
They usually mutter it when,
after we have finished discussing something they were worried about,
they say it like a thank-you, accompanied by a sense of relief.
When they can't organize their own thoughts,
when they don't get along with others,
or when they just want someone to listen to their complaints,
they come to me saying, 'Listen to me!'
I always tell them that if they complain to friends, it might lead to trouble, so they can tell me anything that they feel they can't tell their friends, because I will always listen.
The assignment was,
to imagine that I am currently in the terminal stage of cancer with 2-3 months left to live.
In the lecture, there was a discussion about sudden death,
and because you never know when you will die,
there are things you should convey,
so the task was to write a letter to a loved one (the recipient could be anyone).
And my second daughter wrote a letter to me! ✨
・・Thank you for reading・・
#Bento
#SchoolLife
#ParentAndChild
#ParentChildRelationship
#Sincerity
#Love
#Affection
#Growth
#Parenting
#DeeplyMoving
#Continuity
#Children
#Daughter
#Mother
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