The first thing my youngest child says when she wakes up in the morning is “mama.” My children want to sleep with me whenever my husband is gone. My son gives me sweet words and he wants to take care of me and the family. Yes, they fight and they yell at each other, too. But that’s what children do. I love whenever I hear them talking in the backseat of my car while I am driving. Especially now we listen to Christmas songs, and I enjoy hearing them singing along with Mariah Carey’s CD.
Whoever thought I would have English-speaking children? When I was little, I thought I would get married one day, of course, but I didn’t know I would have children speaking in English. Sometimes I want to pinch myself: “Is this a dream?” If it’s a dream, I don’t want to wake up.
I have no specific desire on what they want to be in the future. I mean, I don’t care if they want to be either American, Japanese, German (my husband is of German descent) or whatever, as long as they are happy. And they have a choice living in the U.S. If we lived in Japan and they didn’t want to be Japanese, it would be a bit difficult. That’s why I chose to build my family in the U.S.
When my son was smaller, he didn’t want to admit that he was half-Japanese. When I asked him if he wanted to take karate lessons, he said, “No! I am not a Japanese!” It was fine with me. Children can be funny sometimes and sensitive to interesting things. So I thought, “Okay, no rush. He can be whatever he wants to be.”
As time goes by, he has started showing more interest in his Japanese side, too. He wants to talk with my parents in Japanese whenever we communicate with them via Skype. He loves to take Japanese snacks which he gets from my parents to school. It’s neat to see that.
My girls are less sensitive and it seems they like to be different. So they like to say they are half-Japanese. My 6-year-old daughter is determined to study Japanese on her own with the Japanese toy that she can learn Japanese from. She writes kana on a piece of paper and brings it to me.
I enjoy seeing both Japanese and American traits in my children. It’s such a blessing that they can benefit from both cultures. So I will leave it up to them to decide what they want to be. As long as they are happy and proud of their choice, it will make me happy.
Photo: Shaun Kennedy
