Wednesday, April 30, 2014

March: In like a lion, out like a squirrel.

We're baaaaaack!



Since the beginning of The Hirano Family Blog, I have made a major effort to write at least three times each month. Unfortunately, in March and for the majority of April, it just hasn't been possible.

In a nutshell life has been mental.

For you to get the full effect, our story shall begin in December...

As I would be returning to work at the beginning of January, Shin and I began to organize a schedule for Kio's slow introduction to the world of nursery school. I was already feeling guilty about abandoning my child into the hands of strangers, and I wanted his (and my) experience to be as stress-free as possible.



First we contacted our ward office and got a list of schools in our area. We then checked out the closest ones, and submitted our application listing our top five choices. Our first set back occurred when we were informed (by the same people who told us that there was no need to register early) that Kio would not be able to enter any of the places that we selected until April; the start of the school year in Japan.

Luckily, there was one nursery school not far from our house that accepted children on a daily reservation basis, and they had room for Kio!

After our tour of くるみ (Kurumi Nursery School - FYI Kurumi means walnut in Japanese) and meeting with the principal, we came up with a schedule that would have Kio going only a few hours a day for a couple of days a week in the beginning. As he became more comfortable we would increase the length and number of days. Other childcare needs would be met by Shin's parents and our regular babysitter.

The perfect plan was born.
 


In January, only a few days before he was due to return to work, one of the part-time teachers at the school Midori and I run, resigned. As such, I would have to return to work full-time until we were able to hire a new part-time teacher.

With that, the perfect plan crumbled into a thousand little tear-soaked pieces.

Rather than the slow, stress-free introduction we had planned, Kio was thrown full force into 'school life'. And this did not jive with the little guy.



For most of January, Kio screamed bloody murder as soon as we walked into the building. His teachers encouraged me not to stick around as he wouldn't calm down until I was out of sight. Sucking back the tears, I would retreat into my car to the sound of my son losing his poor little mind. Then, I too, would have a bit of a cry of my own.

Along with his daily meltdown, Kio also went on hunger and sleeping strikes. He refused to eat at nursery but would come home and devour everything in sight. As well, he would wake up in the middle of the night wanting to play. Not satisfied with my feeble efforts of singing from my bed across the room, Kio would cry until a full on playtime was had.

I was exhausted, but feeling so guilty that I couldn't deny him the time that he clearly wanted with Mommy. 

Luckily, by mid-February Kio got his groove on and things settled into a more stable, yet hectic, routine:

5:30 wake up, shower and get dressed before Kio is up.

6:00 Kio is up. He eats his breakfast and half of mine (the hunger strike is clearly over). 

Kiss, hug, make dinner for and play with Kio, dropping him off at nursery at 9:30.

Catch the 10:03 train to work. 

Shin picks up Kio at 4:00 and takes him home to do dinner, bath and bed by 7:30. 

Shin gets ready for work and makes dinner.

I'm home by 9:00, we eat dinner and Shin is out the door to work.

I clean-up from dinner, do housework and collapse into an exhausted heap by 11:30.

Up again at around 2:30 as Kio still hasn't given up his middle of the night bottle. Then crash for a few more hours only to go at it again the next morning.

Totally nuts! This was NOT the plan.

Originally, I was going to finish work at 5:00 and be home by 6:00. We would eat as a family and have time for Kio to be with Shin and I together. And although we were interviewing new teachers on a regular basis, they were either duds (to put it politely) or looking for full-time employment. My daily mantra became, "This is only temporary." which I chanted to myself like a crazy person regularly throughout the day.

And that brings us to March. In like a lion...
 


In Japan, the rule across the board from nursery school right through to high school is: if your kid has a fever then they stay home. 
 
Without exception. 
 
I have to say that I was not very good at remembering to take Kio's temperature each morning, but the fine folks at くるみ never skipped a beat. One morning as I was heading back to my car after dropping Kio off, I was chased outside by a teacher loaded down with Kio and all of his things. As she handed over Kio, she informed me that, "he has a fever." With his classmates' little noses running like faucets, it was only a matter of time before Kio joined them. 
 
Kio's fever turned into a chest cold. His chest cold turned into asthma. And his asthma resulted in our first midnight trip to the emergency room. Something I remember well from my own childhood.
From the moment I got pregnant, I knew that the chance of Kio getting asthma were pretty high. Shin suffered from childhood asthma and I still take medicine on a daily basis to keep mine in check. But of course I had been silently hoping that through some DNA miracle it would pass him by.
 
Miracle. Shmiracle.
Kio didn't go back to くるみ for the rest of the week. 



And of course Shin and I got sick too.
 
March was literally sucking the life out of us - something had to give.
 
As the month started to come to a close the clouds parted and a ray of sunshine beamed down upon our tiny family.
 
How's that for drama? 

Anyway...

Midori and I were able to hire not one, but TWO new teachers for our school. 

We got the confirmation letter that Kio could enter nursery as a full-time student, AND he could stay at くるみ. Fabulous news as we seriously did not need to go through the adjustment period again. 

We all got over the plague and although things were still busy, the end was certainly in sight.

Out like a squirrel...



April 1st was the 'entrance ceremony' at くるみ. 
 
 
 
 

Although Kio had already been going there for 3 months, it was now official and he had his own little cubby hole and group name to prove it. The kids are divided by age: 0 - 1 year old are the Panda Group, 2 - 3 years old are the bear group and Kio was a proud member of the Squirrel Group. 

Here is a picture of the Squirrels on the day of the entrance ceremony. Ya, that's my kid acting like a nutcase. 



April has been a flurry of teacher training and ear infections but everyone is sleeping more and I'm working a little less. I'm certain that May is going to bring even more peace to the Hirano's and we're starting it off with a week off.

And breathe.

Before I sign off today, I need to give a special shout out to Midori, Dave Crayon and Shin's mom, Toshiko. If it hadn't been for their absolute fabulousness things would have been...well I don't even want to think about that.

Thank you all so very, very much!