Just a blip

I'm back. Survived the blip with a couple of quick strategies. Shopping and focussing on what we have here that we don't have in Australia.

Have I mentioned 100 yen shops before? I did a quick search and couldn't find anything. Anyway. There are shops here called 100 yen shops. Everything, or almost everything, is 100 yen (if it isn't it is a multiple of 100 yen and labelled accordingly). Actually 104 yen including sales tax. Anyway, from the very first time I entered one of these shops I've loved them. They have many bargains. They have many things you would never believe you can buy for 100 yen. Many general household needs, stationary needs and even hair care, first aid etc. needs can be met here. They are also good places to buy less expensive souvenirs.

This afternoon we took the boys to a nearby 100 yen shop to redeem some of the points they've earned from doing jobs around the house (another post). Bonus was I got to go and shop too! Here are just some of the things we bought.

Candles (we eat dinner with candles occasionally, nice for a change), stapler, tape, tongs, money boxes. Not pictured are small rubbish bins, various stationary required for starting school, a wind-up crocodile (5 y.o.'s choice for a reward), a plastic imitation gun that shoots foam thingies (7 y.o.'s choice for his reward) and an imitation Rubics Cube (11 y.o.'s choice). We also bought small workbooks for the boys to bone up on their Japanese basic characters. We're tired of answering questions about basic things the boys could figure out for themselves - like, "Which is the start button?" When if they could read these characters, they could figure it out for themselves. This is a start in the right direction towards them being a bit more self-sufficient in this country.

It wasn't just that it was retail therapy that cheered me up, it was the strategy I've tried to get my kids to do when they wanted to come back to Japan before our time in Australia was up. Trying to get them to focus on the now and what we CAN do/experience/enjoy about the place where we are rather than long for a place we are not.

My husband did the same thing with my menu planning woes. He suggested a Japanese meal that I cook fairly regularly. Perfect - I knew I could easily (and cheaply) get the ingredients for it. I didn't know that the boys would enjoy eating it because I've had plenty of complaints in the past, but in the end two out of three did. So that is a victory.