今となっては身勝手な言い訳になってしまうけれど、
長女のことが手一杯だった頃、ママ友の集まりにほとんど顔を出せなかった。
日本語補習校の送り迎えも、朝の見送りをしたその足で仕事に向かい、
お迎えは夫や友人に頼むことが多くて、ママ友と話す時間など皆無だった。
子供たちが成長して、家庭でもクラスメイトの話をするようになると、
彼らの学校生活や交友関係などがパズルのピースがずいぶんできてきた。
ようやくジグソーパズルが完成した頃、子供たちは既に卒業の時期になっていた。
まったくもって放置プレーさせ放題の子育てであるけれど、
我が子たちを気にかけてくれた周囲のママ友たちの愛と優しさのお陰で、
子供たちが卒業した後でも、こうして皆で会って喋って楽しめる。
日本語での近況報告、日本語での情報交換、日本語での世間話。
どれもこれも、至福の時間。
Now, it seems like a selfish excuse,
When I had my hands full with my eldest daughter, I could hardly make it to the gatherings of the school moms.
I had gone to work after I dropped my kids off at the Japanese language school in the morning.
I often asked my husband or friends to pick up my kids from school, so I never had time to talk with the school moms.
As my kids grew up, they started talking about their classmates at home,
The pieces of the puzzle of their school life and friendships began to come together a lot.
When the jigsaw puzzle was finally complete, it was time for the children to graduate.
I am raising my kids as much as I could let them freely, though,
I am grateful for the love and kindness of the mothers and friends around me who cared for my children,
Even after they have graduated, I can still enjoy meeting and talking with the school moms.
We reported on what was happening in Japanese, exchanged information in Japanese, and made small talk in Japanese.
It was a blissful time.