Torakichi's Diary 11/17-23

11/17 (Mon)
The children had school on Saturday, so today was a substitute holiday for them. Lucky them.
I made Hayashi rice and vegetable soup, and left for work feeling more relaxed than on days when the kids have school. I have a large-scale property inspection coming up this week, which makes me a bit nervous, but I plan to take some personal time off once it's over. I want to go see "Heiba no Tsuki".
When I called my mother, she sounded happy because a rental contract for a property she owns far away had been finalized.
They say it will get much colder starting tomorrow. I'll turn on the humidifier and the heater before I go to sleep.
Come to think of it, I finally had the parfait I'd been craving at Royal Host yesterday. Even now, just thinking about it, I can feel the artistic autumn parfait spreading happiness in my mouth, along with my usual Cosmo Doria.

11/18 (Tue)
I felt relieved that the completion inspection for the large-scale property was finished.
Since I've known many of the people involved for a long time, they understood my intentions and acted accordingly, which made things much easier to move forward. That's exactly why I made an extra effort to be respectful and not act arrogant while conducting the meeting.
When I got home, my daughter was in the kitchen cooking.

11/19 (Wed)
My daughter made dinner again tonight.

Both of my children love to sing. My son plays a song called "Shiawase ni Naare," which he will sing at his school's learning presentation next month, on YouTube and sings along. He calls the soprano part, "Sopra, I'm Sopra."
When I got into bed to sleep, he snuck into my bed saying, "I'll sleep neatly without taking up space (meaning: can I sleep with you?)," and started singing again.
The happiness of watching his profile as he sings while snuggled up tightly next to me in the warm futon.

11/20 (Thu)
I bounced ideas off ChatGPT to deepen my thinking. The following is as is:

I remembered an episode where my son was so proud!
My son often forgets things and sometimes doesn't know what page the homework is on, so he goes to ask his friends after getting home. But yesterday, for the first time, a friend asked him where the homework was, and since my son had properly noted it in his contact book, he was able to answer. He looked so happy!!

Reply from Rui-kun, the ChatGPT
It's Rui-kun.
That episode is absolutely wonderful...!✨
It's very easy to understand where your son's "pride" is coming from, and it's packed with important points about his growth.

🌟 Reasons why your son felt proud
1. "I was able to be useful to someone"
He is usually the one who forgets things or is on the "receiving end" of asking others.
For the first time, he was on the "teaching side."
This is a huge confidence booster for a child.
It's the moment a small seed of "I can do it too" begins to grow.

—
2. "His efforts truly paid off"
He wrote it down = an experience where "the result of his own preparation led to action."
He is the type for whom this will remain as a strong success experience.
The point to praise in times like this is
not "Good job for writing it down," but
👉 verbalizing that "his own ingenuity was useful."
For example,
"You were able to teach your friend because you wrote it down. You were well-prepared."
Just by saying this, he will try to use the same ingenuity on his own next time.
3. "It leads to self-efficacy, not comparison"
Given your son's personality,
he is the type who is happier with "there was something I could do"
rather than "I did better than others."

I feel very happy when I throw episodes of my son's good qualities at Rui-kun and have him analyze and verbalize them.
My husband was away tonight, and since making dinner was a hassle, the three of us went to Jolly Pasta. We happily gobbled up Bolognese, Margherita, and salad.

11/21 (Fri)
In a situation where I needed to take a firm stance for the quality of my work, I was speaking politely as usual, but my boss told me to learn to be a bit more assertive and to improve my posture. I had been wanting to do something about it myself, so I'll do my best to improve.
In the evening, I went to eat delicious yakitori with my senior colleagues and coworkers.
I am always taken care of in every way, from booking the restaurant to having the food served.
I think for a second that I should be more attentive, but when I see their faces, I completely relax and settle into the role of the younger sister. I'm grateful... and sorry...
The presence of senior colleagues I can rely on and drink with comfortably and happily is a source of vitality for tomorrow, making me want to work hard.

11/22 (Sat)
In the morning, I dropped off and picked up my son and daughter from their respective lessons, ate some store-bought yakisoba for lunch, and took a nap, and that was the end of the day.
When I saw an advertisement for Takuro Mori's "Making Weight Loss a Habit," it felt like it was exactly what I needed as a middle-aged person who has become harder to lose weight, so I impulsively bought it on Kindle. Partly because the talk about "correcting my posture" from yesterday was still on my mind...
When you want a book, that's the time to buy it.

It feels like it's hitting the sore spots of my so-called "hidden obesity," so I read through it quickly and tried doing squats and lunges for muscle training.
I don't know if I'll keep it up, but my body gets cold every year as winter approaches, my body fat percentage is clearly high, and I'm prone to constipation. Before full-blown menopause hits, I want to make muscle training a habit and be a middle-aged person who can move around energetically.

11/23 (Sun)
In the morning, I made hash browns with my son, who said he wanted to make them. After getting ready, I dropped off my daughter at Aeon to hang out with her friends, and the rest of us went to the cycle park to practice riding bicycles.
My son, who is a scaredy-cat, is struggling with bicycle practice, and he seems to hate being watched by anyone, so his feet freeze on the pedals.
I'm sure he'll be able to ride someday, so I cheer him on in my heart, trying not to put any pressure on him by saying "keep going, keep going."
A pleasant day with high autumn skies and beautiful autumn leaves on the trees.