3.03.2010
Hinamatsuri-Girl's Day
Okay, so no have the china dolls that actually started this tradition. And no are actually Japanese. But I like the idea of a day to celebrate girls. March 3 used to be Girl's Day and May 5 was Boy's Day, but then they got combined into Children's Day on May 5th. But we Hawaiians jus' celebrate wheneva. So we borrowed it and I picked up both my girls early from school and we hit the town.
That took about five minutes.
Well, maybe an hour. I gave my girls balloons, instead of peach blossoms, which are for some reason in short supply when it's the middle of winter and snowing. I took them to the toy store where Ruth played with the Thomas trains the whole time but decided on a stuffed panda in a purse to take home instead. Abra wanted to know how much and then picked something under the budget line. It didn't even have to squeak under it. She's making crystals. No, not the meth ones, you nutjobs.
Then we went home and made mochi that probably only I am going to eat, musubi which has nothing to do with Girl's Day but we missed it, and katsu chicken because I thought no one would eat oyako donburi, it being something gross called soup. But no one ate the katsu chicken either. That rice, though, whew it disappeared instantly.
I want to feel that I have trashed a genuine Japanese tradition by making it all haole, but at the same time cannot feel truly sorry for using it to celebrate my girls. All my children suffer from a lack of quality time, I'm sure, but I want them to feel special. If that means giving them an extra holiday out of the year, then so be it. And I think the fact that Japan has a holiday called Children's Day and America is lacking in one, says something about America that I would punch a foreigner for saying (ok, not really). Our children need to feel valued, even if it's only one extra day a year. Fly kites and pick flowers, instead of practice and homework. As a country, we tend to focus on kids as if they are burdens, what with being all capitalist and busy. Love them, yes, but rejoice in them also.
I know. That last bit was a little granola-y, even for me. True, but cheesy nonetheless.
So mark your calendars, you don't have to do both. No worries, one extra day is all.
The Girls' is back in town, yo.
That took about five minutes.
Well, maybe an hour. I gave my girls balloons, instead of peach blossoms, which are for some reason in short supply when it's the middle of winter and snowing. I took them to the toy store where Ruth played with the Thomas trains the whole time but decided on a stuffed panda in a purse to take home instead. Abra wanted to know how much and then picked something under the budget line. It didn't even have to squeak under it. She's making crystals. No, not the meth ones, you nutjobs.
Then we went home and made mochi that probably only I am going to eat, musubi which has nothing to do with Girl's Day but we missed it, and katsu chicken because I thought no one would eat oyako donburi, it being something gross called soup. But no one ate the katsu chicken either. That rice, though, whew it disappeared instantly.
I want to feel that I have trashed a genuine Japanese tradition by making it all haole, but at the same time cannot feel truly sorry for using it to celebrate my girls. All my children suffer from a lack of quality time, I'm sure, but I want them to feel special. If that means giving them an extra holiday out of the year, then so be it. And I think the fact that Japan has a holiday called Children's Day and America is lacking in one, says something about America that I would punch a foreigner for saying (ok, not really). Our children need to feel valued, even if it's only one extra day a year. Fly kites and pick flowers, instead of practice and homework. As a country, we tend to focus on kids as if they are burdens, what with being all capitalist and busy. Love them, yes, but rejoice in them also.
I know. That last bit was a little granola-y, even for me. True, but cheesy nonetheless.
So mark your calendars, you don't have to do both. No worries, one extra day is all.
The Girls' is back in town, yo.
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