At the Nursery graduation ceremony, I was in tears saying good-bye to the children.
And I also went to my son’s graduation, but there were no tears whatsoever… I was so overwhelmed with the number of students graduating and the pomp of the ceremony.
Well, my son will be going to a local university so he will be with us for another few years, which means I will be nagging him for another few years saying things like clean up his room or after he has eaten, not to turn on the music so loud, so on and so forth. That’s another few years of enjoying being a mom.
Last year we had such a cool (and short) summer, and this year, oh it is just so incredibly hot.
We had a friend’s family visiting us from Japan and were they surprised by the heat! Yes, they were expecting a “nice and cool Canadian summer” as any Japanese family would naturally expect.
We did manage to enjoy the sauna-hot days going to the Niagara Falls, strawberry picking, Canada’s Wonderland, etc. Now I am back at work and I don’t think anyone would believe me that I did liberally apply sunscreen?
We at the Nursery pay close attention to the outside temperature and UV information, but as this summer the heat and the sunshine is much, much stronger, and we advise that the families pay attention at home as well. You would not want your children to get all tanned like me!
It was nice spending time with the friend’s family, as it has been some time since we had a child in our home. I had so much fun playing with a five-year-old.
After they left I had this feeling of an empty nest, and I imagined that maybe the grandparents of little boys and girls here are feeling the same when the grandchildren visit them in Japan.
We all know that the children grow so fast, and I strongly recommend that you visit your family in Japan as well as send them photos and videos as much as you can. I think it’s the best way to unite families and share the joy of having “little people” in the home.
Yukari Ikebata, Principal
August 29, 2011