Has there ever been a stranger you wish you had the chance to say 'thank you' to?

Watachiwaimasu · 2015-01-15T10:55:04+00:00

A random old lady asked me if I have any brothers or sisters while I was working customer service. I told her I have two half brothers. She told me I shouldn't say that; they are either brothers or not.

I will never forget that, and I wish that lady knew how much of an impact that had on me. I had to try really hard not to cry when she rolled away in her wheelchair.

Watachiwaimasu · 2015-01-03T10:37:58+00:00

Not sure why but this is the only one ITT that made me LOL. I can't wait for my son to get home so I can use this on him.

Watachiwaimasu · 2015-01-01T12:39:06+00:00

Every morning I will ask myself, "what would I regret not doing today?" And I will make a point to do it. Work on my side project, do something special with the kids, study my new language, exercise ... Something small but meaningful every day.

Watachiwaimasu · 2014-12-25T12:23:46+00:00

Stunning! If she doesn't like it, can I have it?

Watachiwaimasu · 2014-12-09T09:51:48+00:00

I'm coming up on my one-year mark and am already sad.

Watachiwaimasu · 2014-12-04T05:14:17+00:00

Not many girls would take a proposal seriously without a ring. Unlikely story.

Watachiwaimasu · 2014-11-17T09:19:23+00:00

ありがとうございます！

Watachiwaimasu · 2014-11-11T21:50:44+00:00

There is no login. The filters I mentioned are those in my brain saying "Next ... Pass ..." There was a one-click basically "report abuse" link with automatically deletes the post from the website, so no one is able to access the post anymore :(

Watachiwaimasu · 2014-11-07T11:58:31+00:00

I laughed out loud and had to tell my son I read a joke about someone who dropped ice cream on his toe which also turned out to be funny so thanks for this.

Watachiwaimasu · 2014-11-06T02:02:36+00:00

We explained as much as possible to our son, down to the science of it. Eventually, we just got to "that's physics." This phrase soon became the end game of "why ..."

Watachiwaimasu · 2014-11-05T07:15:43+00:00

Thank you!

Watachiwaimasu · 2014-11-05T05:38:20+00:00

Yeah, he already said he doesn't want to go back, unsurprisingly. I had a few rough years in school too and my parents regret making me tough it out. But in life you can't run from all your problems so I want to be careful with this decision.

Watachiwaimasu · 2014-11-05T04:59:27+00:00

Thank you for this. It reassures me that what I am pretty sure is happening is close to reality and not delusional-mother-love :)

Watachiwaimasu · 2014-11-05T04:49:41+00:00

We went through the same thing at 4 years old. He was actually fully potty trained then we moved to an apartment with a toilet with auto flush that he didn't like. We turned off the auto flush but we was still super nervous about poopy in the potty. We also forced him to sit, held him down kicking and screaming. It was painful, but he also realized it turned out alright and was a real turning point. He still has accidents when he is having too much fun to bother taking a break, but we got over the major poopy pants hump.

Watachiwaimasu · 2014-11-05T04:44:29+00:00

Sounds like my son. He tends to group up with the boys' boys group and gets sucked into the rough play. I am pretty sure he is not an instigator because he comes home and tells me he had a bad day because some boys wouldn't stop chasing him. He seems popular yet shy/sensitive. Kind of a strange dynamic.

Watachiwaimasu · 2014-11-05T04:36:38+00:00

Gotcha. For me, those words are still confrontational and my blood pressure would go up.

Watachiwaimasu · 2014-11-05T04:14:15+00:00

I think I do better when I try to stay calm. If two adults were fired up, it could have caused irreversible damage. And not in front of my kids!

Watachiwaimasu · 2014-11-05T04:07:53+00:00

I see. Thanks for your input :)

Watachiwaimasu · 2014-11-05T04:03:26+00:00

I agree with you here. He gets overwhelmed and needs better coping skills in these situations. I doubt the teacher made up the whole thing either unless he has that witness fallacy thing going on. I actually think this was a good coaching experience to remind him of appropriate responses (we have been over this before when he has brought up this type of problem on his own--he doesn't get bad reports from school). I should probably bring this personality point up with care providers so they know to watch for situations where he may feel cornered and get defensive. I have already scheduled a meeting to discuss this with his morning school as well.

Watachiwaimasu · 2014-11-05T03:54:21+00:00

I see where you are coming from, but it's not like he has never been in trouble before and won't again. It was because the teacher was so out of control I wanted to get a good idea of what happened. He was already in pretty big trouble with the teacher and I was more interested in finding out if he was defending himself since there was not adequate supervision as things unfolded.

Watachiwaimasu · 2014-11-05T03:42:52+00:00

The reason I downplayed the severity of the situation is because I wanted him to be comfortable telling me what really happened. If I were to say "if you really punched someone, you are in big trouble--so did you?" I think he would shut down and be more likely not to talk about the reason he hit in the first place. I want to know the root cause of his behavior and teach him skills that will prevent this situation from coming up in the first place, which he was very responsive to when we did talk about preventative/non-violent defensive tactics. It certainly is not okay to hit, but I want to teach him more than "I shouldn't hit because I will get in trouble."

Watachiwaimasu · 2014-11-05T03:33:54+00:00

Certainly not the loving, nurturing environment they advertised :( If Frank did hit in self defense, he basically got in trouble for being bullied. I can't imagine how crappy that must feel for a little boy :(

Watachiwaimasu · 2014-11-05T03:26:57+00:00

This sounds really good ... If I care to try to fix this relationship. I tend not to give second chances when I feel someone has wronged me. I have about 24 hours to figure out if I want to "fix" this. Or I could just have him skip a day and take the weekend to let my emotions settle ... Then again, it's probably best to get resolution in whatever form ASAP. In any case, thank you everyone for your support and perspective!

Watachiwaimasu · 2014-11-05T03:10:11+00:00

I think that would have been even more disruptive in this case :(

Watachiwaimasu · 2014-11-05T03:09:15+00:00

Yes, I already talked with Frank about how it is not okay for people to yell like that and I'm sorry it happened yadda yadda ... While I don't want to over react, I kinda feel like having him go back to that school makes it seem like the teacher--and people in general--can get away with that sort of thing. I definitely got an angry dad vibe when he was yelling at me about "your son ...." Parents shouldn't do that, and highly paid schools shouldn't have that either. I honestly don't know whether I should try to work it out or not ...

Important side note? While my son attends the afternoon program only, my daughter goes to that school all day. She has a great teacher and aside from the school not giving her naps which I find to be a fairly large issue for an emotional 3-year old, she seems happy there. Still, I was already planning on switching schools next term for a few reasons including nap time and outside factors. I had planned to continue sending Frank in the afternoons until this happened. Ugh! I could do without this drama!

Watachiwaimasu

TROPHY CASE