Doctor, Doctor?

Posted on April 9, 2010 by MThomas

This past Monday I experienced bringing my daughter to the doctor’s office for the first time. The first time by myself, I mean. I’ve been present at most of my daughter’s immunization shot visits (my wife and I arranged these last year to fall during times when I didn’t have to work). Both my wife and I went together with our daughter when she first visited the jibi-in-koka at the start of March (I missed one doctor visit because I had a meeting at work).

But Monday was my first time to bring my daughter by myself to the byouin, and the first time to try to communicate with the doctor by myself. In Japanese.

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Leave Starts

Posted on April 1, 2010 by MThomas

It’s official. Today I have become the first male worker ever at a Japanese National College of Technology to take Child Care Leave.

image of form

The official form for my child care leave.

I have been granted official leave from April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011. The term in Japanese is “Ikuji-kyugyo,” which is sometimes translated as “parental leave,” but more accurately ought to be “child-raising leave.” (Literally, “grow child absence work.”)

My taking a full year of leave to raise my child at times may seem audacious Continue reading →

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Suku-suku So-dan

Posted on March 25, 2010 by MThomas

Yesterday, my wife and I took our daughter to a city-sponsored health check slash child care consultation (suku-suku so-dan, meaning literally “quick consultation,” from the idiom suku-suku sodatsu, grow quickly or thriving). The event was free of charge for all 10-month babies in the municipal district. I was the only man present, and the event was entirely in Japanese. I guess I had better get used to this for the upcoming year.

The first part consisted of weight and height checking. Still on the low-weight side of things (7.1 kg, or a little more than 15 1/2 lbs), but slightly above average height (72 cm, 28 inches). At any rate, fairly straight-forward health check up to that point. We were directed to a larger waiting room (which was larger than our apartment, actually), where somewhere between fifteen to twenty mother-baby pairs were playing with various fluffy blocks, wooden cars, handmade rattles, and other toys.

After a wait of about half an hour, we were called along with six or seven other mother-baby pairs into an adjoining room. There, we were taught how to play games with our babies.

No, seriously, that’s what the point of the exercise was. How to play games.

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Posted in baby toys, parenting | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments