Today was the usual hectic morning getting out of the house. This is what I have to have installed (beyond me just being dressed and vaguely presentable) if I am taking them both:
Sam to wear: white underpants and socks, uniform shorts, short or long-sleeve uniform dress shirt, uniform jacket with name tag attached (since he tried to get lost in the bathroom on a museum field trip this is really important), white shoes put on as we are leaving, hat, plus any other items like an extra coat if needed for warmth or rain.
Sam to carry: backpack with items that have been washed overnight including utensil set, place mat, cup in a little baggy, towel, handkerchief, play uniform shirt(s), shorts, extra underwear and shorts for accidents. On Fridays a lunch. And sometimes other items like forms, smock or hat that needed washing, picture books that need returning (one is borrowed each Thursday and returned with a short report from me on Monday), etc.
Maia to wear: regular clothing and shoes. Backpack for wearing HER.
Maia to bring: refresh in changes of clothing, a cup with a drink (here usually barley tea, but water is OK), lunch and snack, notebook with a report of her sleeping times and morning body temperature, washcloths, and on Monday a small futon which has been aired over the weekend. And if I want to be kind to her caregivers, her beloved pacifier.
Then I walk with all this, plus whatever I need for my own work, on to the bus. We get priority seating with me having a baby attached. They have a nice easy to understand sticker with iconic figures of pregnant lady, lady carrying baby, elderly person, handicapped person. Maia always points at this sticker identifying which one we are (and also which ones the ladies cooing at her are). What I'm looking forward to is when she points to it when a sturdy high school student is sitting there... We take the bus for about 7 minutes and then walk of a similar length to Sam's school. Then Maia and I get back on a bus to go to Kyoto U. which takes about 40 minutes, sometimes longer if it is busy with tourists. I'm engaged in this launching activity from about 7AM to 10AM, at least on the days when I take both kids. Right now my husband's not here, so I've been doing it multiple days in a row.
Anyway, this is rather hard on the body, and the 20 minutes before we leave is rather hectic, involving repeated yelling of phrases like "put on your shoes" and "you CAN do it yourself!" All of this is certainly familiar territory for parents. I breath a huge sigh of relief when it is over.
Today my class involved going to see Tanizaki Jun'ichiro's gravesite at Honen'in Temple off the Philosopher's Trail. Compared to other temples I've been to in Kyoto recently this place was extremely quiet and calming (even with 12 students in tow who were pretty excited about the election results streaming into their cell phones.
It was a lovely spot to learn of Obama's victory in the election. Much better than sitting bleary-eyed on a the sofa looking at color-coded maps. ). We're reading Tanizaki's novels these past weeks, so it seemed like a good change of pace to hold class there. It's a peaceful site, and lovely grave. The previous day when I was scoping it out, a woman at a nearby cafe said she had modeled her own husband's grave on Tanizaki's though she was just going to see Tanizaki's in person for the first time. The grave site was of Tanizaki's design and includes a cherry tree he planted and two stones engraved based on his calligraphy. The characters are Jaku and Ie. Jaku means silence or tranquility, and I believe can also indicate entry to nirvana. Ie means family. Tanizaki plays with many pairs in his novels - east/west; kansai/kanto; man/woman, all of which get interestingly confused along the way. I am not sure of Tanizaki's intention with this pairing, but if they are opposite extremes I felt a bit like I was living it over the course of my day. But when I finish this and go sleep with them (minus any Sarah Palin-becomes-president midnight panic attacks!) it might all come together again.
