A week ago we attended the annual “Happyoukai” or presentation at the daycare. This is an annual event attended by all classes (but beginning this year, the 0-year-old and 1-year-old classes have been exempted). The very first happyoukai Aya attended was when she was in the 0-year-old class (three years ago), and since the kids in that class were still practically infants and in fact still wearing their diapers at that time, what kind of presentation can one really expect them to do? Most of them were just drooling and crawling across the floor while their frantic teachers were singing and doing most of the “action.” I kind of felt sorry for the teachers, actually. Anyway, since the kids have grown a little we expected a little more participation from the kids this time around.
We were amused to find out that the kids were able to prepare something substantial this time, and somehow their practices indeed paid off. Aya was one of the “ooki yagi” = big goats in their play. I could barely understand what the play was all about, but it was something about small goats, medium goats, and big goats passing through a troll mountain and being eaten by the troll who guards it. But unfortunately, for the latter half of their presentation, Aya drifted from the group and played on the floor along with some kids. Oh well. Kids will be kids, you know.
We had only wanted to stay for Aya’s presentation and make a quick exit afterwards, but unfortunately, it seemed as if the teachers anticipated that parents were apt to make a quick getaway if they could. So what they did was they whisked off the kids to the classroom and asked the parents to pick them up there, and accompany them back to the presentation hall to watch the rest of the older kids’ presentations. And that was not the end of it. That day was also “Obento no hi” or lunchpack day, and after the presentations we were asked to come back to the room with our kids and have lunch with them there. Have lunch – for those who actually brought their share of lunch (some parents actually did). Since we didn’t bring our own lunch, we ended up feeding Aya and watching the rest of them gobble their food. Shikata nai ne. Hay, the things they make us do. Isn’t it enough that we had to pay? 😀 At any rate, it was touching to see both parents attending activities like these. I mean, contrary to the notion that Japanese dads are seldom there for their kids – there were actually quite a number of dads there. I guess they took time off from work like we did just so we can attend the activity.
Enough complaining for now. ‘La namang magagawa eh. Wait till she gets to elementary! I heard that the PTA activities here demand a lot of the parents’ time and participation. Argh…