Eric
Erics First Soccer Match
Tue, 2009-10-13 13:00 | by Erin
Eric had his first soccer match today. It was actually 2 matches each with 15 minute 1/2's.
I love my son and after replaying the whole match in my mind, I am positive of 2 things;
I played soccer when I was a kid and while I lacked the concentration and discipline to make me a great soccer player, I was not bad. I see in my son the same ability, he is bigger and stronger than the other kids (I was not), and when he puts his mind into the game he does well, but most of the time he is just running around aimlessly chasing the ball. Just like me.
When I played soccer as a kid, my dad was always there cheering me on from the sidelines. He was so loud about it that I frequently found it embarrassing. Then when 1/2 time came or the game ended, Dad would come along for a quick pep talk, some advice to try to help me get better. I never listened.
Now Eric is on the field and I did my best to control myself, though it was very hard, as even the Japanese parents were all yelling and screaming too. Just like my Dad I came to Eric and tried to give him some advice and telling him how good of a job he was doing.
I love my son and after replaying the whole match in my mind, I am positive of 2 things;
- Eric is my son.
- I am my Doug's (my father) son.
I played soccer when I was a kid and while I lacked the concentration and discipline to make me a great soccer player, I was not bad. I see in my son the same ability, he is bigger and stronger than the other kids (I was not), and when he puts his mind into the game he does well, but most of the time he is just running around aimlessly chasing the ball. Just like me.
When I played soccer as a kid, my dad was always there cheering me on from the sidelines. He was so loud about it that I frequently found it embarrassing. Then when 1/2 time came or the game ended, Dad would come along for a quick pep talk, some advice to try to help me get better. I never listened.
Now Eric is on the field and I did my best to control myself, though it was very hard, as even the Japanese parents were all yelling and screaming too. Just like my Dad I came to Eric and tried to give him some advice and telling him how good of a job he was doing.
kodomo sumo 2007
Mon, 2007-10-15 16:43 | by Erin
Kodomo Sumo in Tokyo
Last year Eric and I went to the local kids sumo tournament and Eric did really well. This year we went to a local kodomo sumo tournament here in Tokyo. It was a lot different, well organized with stands selling Japanese food, and places to set up if you want to sell stuff.
At noon we got in line to sign up. There were about 50 kids for Erics age group. I paid my 200 yen and then Eric was in. Special thanks to Momo-chan and her mom for coming to make sure that Eric and I got signed up correctly and cheer Eric on.
After a group of young girls did a Hawaiian dance routine Eric and all the other kids in his age group got up on the stage and they grouped them from biggest to smallest. Eric being 4 feet tall at almost 6 years old was one of the tallest so he was put in towards the end.
At Eric's age group they didn't appear to take it as serious as they took they other kids. They just paired them up, put them in the ring and said Go and then declared a winner. The kids were then hustled off the mat and each given a bag of small consolation prizes.
Eric lost his first match to a hip toss from his opponent. Luckily he was towards the end and there was a uneven number of kids so they asked him if wanted to wrestle again and he said yes, the 2 other kids they asked said no probably because the other kid was the same height as Eric but had him by at least 10-15 kilos. Eric got in the ring again and went right at it with the bigger kid. I was yelling and screaming so hysterically that I did not even see who won. Eric said he did but I thought I saw his knee on the ground before he pushed the kid out of the ring. Either way it was a good hard fought match by my boy so I rewarded him with a puzzle that he saw that some one was selling.
Eric's 日本語 (Japanese) to English and Back again
Wed, 2007-09-12 20:42 | by Erin
So EVERY night I can muster up the strength I read to Eric one of three books.
Where the wild things are.
One fish. Two fish
or my least favorite ABCs with Mickey Mouse.
Since we all started living together again Eric's English has improved allot, but after reading these stories to him I constantly wondered how much does he really understand. Last night I found out.
100%
I was blown away when I asked him to read the story back to me....... in Japanese and he was able to do it with almost no hesitation at all.
When I read some parts from "Where the Wild Things Are". I get pretty into that and tend to be pretty animated about the whole thing.
Particularly "And when he came to the place where the wild things are the ROARED their terrible ROARS and GNASHED their terrible TEETH and ROOOLLLLEDD their terrible eyes and SHOWED!!! their terrible CLAAAAAAWWWWWSSSS!
Eric's reading was right on! Although I did not know all the words he uses I could tell by the tone and inflection of his voice what parts he was reading. It was truly a great moment in my life.
