(front) Trinity, Tony, Jason, Julia, Janina
(back) Marylin (with Mom), Christina, oops, Emma (with Mom)
(Not present: Selah, Gabby)
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Great Grandchildren
These are almost all of the LaMattery great-grandchildren
(front) Trinity, Tony, Jason, Julia, Janina
(back) Marylin (with Mom), Christina, oops, Emma (with Mom)
(Not present: Selah, Gabby)
(front) Trinity, Tony, Jason, Julia, Janina
(back) Marylin (with Mom), Christina, oops, Emma (with Mom)
(Not present: Selah, Gabby)
Size Difference
Not the greatest picture in the world, but this is my (almost) 20 year old brother Tim, and me. I'm the oldest of 9 kids, he is number 7 in the ranks. Believe it or not, he is NOT standing on anything and I am NOT sitting on anything. He is the tallest in our family, I am, (fortunately or unfortunately??) the shortest.
Cousin Pictures
A very rare, actually, almost one of its kind, picture of all the cousins together.
SAN DIEGO
Tony, Jason, Tim (uncle), Janina
Julia, Trinity
(way back) Grandma, Johnny, China
Tony, Jason, Tim (uncle), Janina
Julia, Trinity
(way back) Grandma, Johnny, China
McDonalds in LA:Trinity, Julia, Janina, Jason
Julia, Trinity
HEMETJulia, Trinity
HEMET-Julia's Birthday Party
HEMET-Jason and Tony
Thursday, October 26, 2006
The Rising Problem of Bullying in Japan
Bullying has been a common problem in Japan for years and decades and probably longer. Ever since I got here I've heard about the problem of bullying. But it seems that now the government is going to try and take it more seriously, as they realize it's a problem they need to get involved in.
Why do children choose to bully another? As a parent I have to ask, don't parents at home teach their children good rules to live by? Or, is Japan really a society of 'survival of the fittest'?
Janina, now in Jr. High, where bullying can get pretty bad, had a difficult time for a few years in elementary school. She was by no means severely bullied, but she wasn't fitting in and was teased. It seems that about mid-5th grade things worked out and now she has no problems at all. She found her inner strength, she gained a confidence she didn't have, and she blossomed. I was happy that she had a really great teacher at school who poured a lot of confidence into her.
I talked to her about bullying at her school, and found out that there is one girl in her grade who is a subject of bullying. I asked Janina what could be done about it, but she said she didn't know. First off, if she befriends the girl, she's afraid she will also become the target. It also seems that she has tried to reach out to this girl a few times, only to be rebuffed. As a parent, I also don't know what to do. I don't want to see another child mistreated, do I report this to the school principal, do I demand that Janina bring the girl home and make friends with her?
In Japan there has been a small wave of children and young adolescents who have committed suicide over incidences of bullying by both other students and teachers. One thing I believe I have tried to instill in my children is a strength to know they should not be mistreated by anyone. When I hear about someone mistreating them, I become outraged and try to impart to the kids that they should be outraged at any mistreatment as well. Of course I try to balance it with the fact that you should never pick on someone else. I hope, I think, I cross my fingers, that they have gotten the point. It was something I learned from my Mom--don't take s**t from noone!
So, here's the article:
Education reform panel vows to address bullying
By AKEMI NAKAMURA
Staff writer
An advisory panel on educational reform said Wednesday it will come up with measures to stop school bullying following the suicide of a 13-year-old boy in Fukuoka Prefecture who complained of abuse at the hands of his classmates and a teacher.
Most of the 17 members of the Education Rebuilding Council emphasized the need to take measures to prevent bullying at school, said Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Eriko Yamatani, the special adviser who heads the panel, after the council's second meeting since it was set up earlier this month.
"Children (who are bullied) are crying out for help," she said. "We have to find out what measures are necessary."
Yamatani and Hiroyuki Yoshiie, a council member who also serves on the Yokohama municipal board of education, were scheduled to visit Chikuzen, Fukuoka Prefecture, later in the day to discuss the suicide with the boy's parents, officials at Miwa Junior High School, where the boy went, and members of the Chikuzen municipal board of education.
The boy was found hanged Oct. 11 at his home. He left four suicide notes in which he complained he could not go on living because of the bullying. A teacher at his junior high school reportedly instigated the bullying by his classmates.
Based on the interviews, the 17 members of the council, which will be divided into three working groups, will discuss how to improve teachers, support children who are being bullied and come up with concrete measures to prevent abuse, Yamatani said.
The Japan Times
(C) All rights reserved
Why do children choose to bully another? As a parent I have to ask, don't parents at home teach their children good rules to live by? Or, is Japan really a society of 'survival of the fittest'?
Janina, now in Jr. High, where bullying can get pretty bad, had a difficult time for a few years in elementary school. She was by no means severely bullied, but she wasn't fitting in and was teased. It seems that about mid-5th grade things worked out and now she has no problems at all. She found her inner strength, she gained a confidence she didn't have, and she blossomed. I was happy that she had a really great teacher at school who poured a lot of confidence into her.
I talked to her about bullying at her school, and found out that there is one girl in her grade who is a subject of bullying. I asked Janina what could be done about it, but she said she didn't know. First off, if she befriends the girl, she's afraid she will also become the target. It also seems that she has tried to reach out to this girl a few times, only to be rebuffed. As a parent, I also don't know what to do. I don't want to see another child mistreated, do I report this to the school principal, do I demand that Janina bring the girl home and make friends with her?
In Japan there has been a small wave of children and young adolescents who have committed suicide over incidences of bullying by both other students and teachers. One thing I believe I have tried to instill in my children is a strength to know they should not be mistreated by anyone. When I hear about someone mistreating them, I become outraged and try to impart to the kids that they should be outraged at any mistreatment as well. Of course I try to balance it with the fact that you should never pick on someone else. I hope, I think, I cross my fingers, that they have gotten the point. It was something I learned from my Mom--don't take s**t from noone!
So, here's the article:
Education reform panel vows to address bullying
By AKEMI NAKAMURA
Staff writer
An advisory panel on educational reform said Wednesday it will come up with measures to stop school bullying following the suicide of a 13-year-old boy in Fukuoka Prefecture who complained of abuse at the hands of his classmates and a teacher.
Most of the 17 members of the Education Rebuilding Council emphasized the need to take measures to prevent bullying at school, said Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Eriko Yamatani, the special adviser who heads the panel, after the council's second meeting since it was set up earlier this month.
"Children (who are bullied) are crying out for help," she said. "We have to find out what measures are necessary."
Yamatani and Hiroyuki Yoshiie, a council member who also serves on the Yokohama municipal board of education, were scheduled to visit Chikuzen, Fukuoka Prefecture, later in the day to discuss the suicide with the boy's parents, officials at Miwa Junior High School, where the boy went, and members of the Chikuzen municipal board of education.
The boy was found hanged Oct. 11 at his home. He left four suicide notes in which he complained he could not go on living because of the bullying. A teacher at his junior high school reportedly instigated the bullying by his classmates.
Based on the interviews, the 17 members of the council, which will be divided into three working groups, will discuss how to improve teachers, support children who are being bullied and come up with concrete measures to prevent abuse, Yamatani said.
The Japan Times
(C) All rights reserved
Bye Bye Birdie
This story started on a sunny day, when Janina and a friend managed to somehow knock a baby bird out of its nest. The baby was old enough to flap around and fly a bit, not far, but a bit. We found a cardboard box and I informed Janni she was responsible to feed and care for the little thing.
Being a mother with more than 30 years of experience with rescuing poor animals, I give them about a week to live, more if they're strong or older, less if they're are newborns.
Sure enough, about a week later the little thing died, and our heartbroken kids along with Papa Dave held a funeral in the backyard, dug a little hole, made a little cross and said a little word of goodbye.
Of all the kids most affected was Jason, the tenderheart. He has a very soft spot when it comes to things like dying animals, maybe it's a guy thing, I don't know, but us women realize this is how it goes, death, life, life, death, it's a cycle, but guys, they seem to be a bit more sensitive.
Being a mother with more than 30 years of experience with rescuing poor animals, I give them about a week to live, more if they're strong or older, less if they're are newborns.
Sure enough, about a week later the little thing died, and our heartbroken kids along with Papa Dave held a funeral in the backyard, dug a little hole, made a little cross and said a little word of goodbye.
Of all the kids most affected was Jason, the tenderheart. He has a very soft spot when it comes to things like dying animals, maybe it's a guy thing, I don't know, but us women realize this is how it goes, death, life, life, death, it's a cycle, but guys, they seem to be a bit more sensitive.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Jason is Eleven!
Happy Birthday to my dearest Sonny-boy, who turned 11 this year! And thank you to everyone who sent gifts, called and joined in making the event special for him!
Here's the birthday cake, Spiderman theme.
Getting ready to blow out the candles, this year I got the number right!
Here's the birthday cake, Spiderman theme.
Getting ready to blow out the candles, this year I got the number right!
And finally, blowing them out!
And here he is at the park doing his favorite activity--playing games.
Tummy at the Park
Here's the tummy at the park. The shirt sort of hides how big it's gotten, but believe me, it's really out there.
Julia already loves her little brother.
Julia already loves her little brother.
And this is my normal 'Jason' face these days.
Japan's Rising Birthrate?
I have a few things to say about the Japanese government's dealing with families and pregnancy and children. In our neighborhood the local kindergarten has declined in attendance so rapidly, it's hard for me to grasp. When Janina entered the kindy 8 years ago there were close to 160 children total. This year we were shocked to hear there were only 18 children in attendance! That's close to a 90% decline in 8 years! It could be because more children are attending other private kindys, but once they graduate into 1st grade, all the children in our neighborhood will attend the same public school, at that time we'll have a true measure of the decline.
The 1st grade attendance has declines rapidly as well. When Janina started 1st grade there were 2 classes with close to 40 kids in each. This year there is one class with just above 20 children, which reflects a definite decline.
Japan does not deal well with maternity and helping mothers. There are very few government benefits, so far this is what they help with during maternity:
* 2 free checkups and the funds to cover the delivery
Each check up is around $30, and you are expected to go every month to 2 weeks. From now on my doctor expects me there every 2 weeks, which I definitely cannot afford, not with 3 other children.As for government benefits for children--there really are none. A child typically can get free medical until they are 6, and if you qualify, you receive a monthly stipend of 5,000 yen per child for your first 2, and 10,000 yen per child after that, until they reach Jr. High school. In comparison to what it takes to raise a child, not to mention 4, this is nothing at all. This is money we can use to pay our car taxes once a year, but it is a drop in the bucket compared to what it takes to raise a kid.
I am still working now, I travel the trains twice a week, and unless the train is not crowded, I don't get a seat, although I'm obviously pregnant, which is really a bummer. It's hard to stand for more than 10 minutes or so, on a crowded train with people pressing in on me, jolting around. I would stop working if I could, but I can't, we have to make ends meet, so I'll need to keep going until December, when I'll take 3 months off for Jordan. There's so many things I could talk about that the government could do to make it easier for people to have children in Japan, to create an atmosphere that helps and supports mothers and children, to give them an allowance for buying necessities such as milk, supplements, vegetables and fruits, to ensure that mothers and the elderly will get seats on trains, or to supplement incomes while a mother is in her prenatal and after-delivery stages. Why would anyone in their right mind in this country want to have children? It's too damned expensive! And hard.
And that's not even touching on the whole school system!
So, I don't think the government should be complaining about any declining population, I think they should be looking at the situation and doing more to create an environment where women will feel that having a child is not going to add stress to her family and their already tight budgets, that women will feel supported during that time of their life, and not see it as the 'end' for the next 20 years.
And to top it all off, we are now experiencing exposes in many government run city offices of embezzling of funds by officials and city workers slacking off and using our taxes to pay for it. The gall!
Anyway, all that to say, I'm definitely doing my part to contribute to the population here, and raise good children who will be an asset to any society they are part of.
From Yahoo.com
TOKYO - The number of babies born in Japan rose for the seventh straight month in August, the government said Friday, raising hopes for an upturn in the country's plunging annual birthrate and declining population.
A falling birthrate and an expanding elderly population pose serious concerns for Japan as it struggles to tackle a labor shortage and eroding tax base. Japan's birthrate in 2005 stood at a record low of 1.25 babies per woman in her lifetime, far below the 2.1 rate needed to keep the population steady.
In August, a total of 98,276 births were registered, up 3,001 from the same month in 2005, or a rise of about 3 percent, according to Health Ministry statistics released Friday.
That's the seventh straight monthly gain in the number of births. But Reiji Murayama, an official of the Health Ministry's vital and health statistics division, said it was too early to say that the latest data meant a turnaround in the country's annual birthrate.
"We cannot predict if the falling birthrate may hit the bottom this year yet, until we will see the remaining four months," Murayama said.
The nation's population last year declined for the first time on record, shocking officials and spurring a spate of measures to encourage women to have more babies.
To encourage women to have more babies, the government started a project to build more day care centers, while encouraging men to take paternity leave. Amid changing lifestyles, many single women are delaying or forgoing marriage to pursue careers.
Gaining Weight
At my last checkup the nurse kindly informed me that I have already gained all the weight I should for the pregnancy, and I should start eating more konbu, nori and wakame, all products from the ocean involving seaweed. I snorted, and said 'Oh well, that's just tough'.
I've gained approximately 17 pounds, depending on the time of day you weigh me, and I have 3 months to go. I'm not sure where I've gained too much weight, perhaps it's my butt, it's really hard to tell these days. I was 49 kilos to begin with, and am now 57 kilos at the beginning of my 7th month.
In Japan they have a certain weight allowance for pregnant women, and if you start to go over it, they get on your case. The result is that many babies are being born today very underweight and unhealthy, as women are so concerned about their weight. As for me, I don't think the Doctor factored in that:
1. I'm a foreigner and tend to carry more fat on my body than the typical Japanese woman.
2. My kids are all around 3.5 kilos, not the normal Japanese 2.5.
3. I seem to have a lot of water in my womb.
4. My breasts have increased, not a lot, but definitely more than the typical Japanese woman's does.
So, I'm not going to stress about it, according to what I've been reading, I've gained at a healthy rate and have room to gain more, and I know for a fact that once this kid starts breastfeeding all that weight is going to be converted into food and energy.
I'm thinking to weigh myself as soon as I go into labor, and right after I deliver, to see how much of it is actually 'my' weight, and how much is the pregnant weight--water, baby, placenta...
I've gained approximately 17 pounds, depending on the time of day you weigh me, and I have 3 months to go. I'm not sure where I've gained too much weight, perhaps it's my butt, it's really hard to tell these days. I was 49 kilos to begin with, and am now 57 kilos at the beginning of my 7th month.
In Japan they have a certain weight allowance for pregnant women, and if you start to go over it, they get on your case. The result is that many babies are being born today very underweight and unhealthy, as women are so concerned about their weight. As for me, I don't think the Doctor factored in that:
1. I'm a foreigner and tend to carry more fat on my body than the typical Japanese woman.
2. My kids are all around 3.5 kilos, not the normal Japanese 2.5.
3. I seem to have a lot of water in my womb.
4. My breasts have increased, not a lot, but definitely more than the typical Japanese woman's does.
So, I'm not going to stress about it, according to what I've been reading, I've gained at a healthy rate and have room to gain more, and I know for a fact that once this kid starts breastfeeding all that weight is going to be converted into food and energy.
I'm thinking to weigh myself as soon as I go into labor, and right after I deliver, to see how much of it is actually 'my' weight, and how much is the pregnant weight--water, baby, placenta...
Introducing Jordan Alex
I'd like you to meet my son, Jordan Alex, who is now 28 weeks old. The doctor said he's growing perfectly, just like he should be, and personally, I think he looks a lot like Julia, especially the nose, but if you look closely at the lips, you can see he has the (in)famous LaMattery lips, sort of look like his uncle Tim's. But he definitely has Art's turned up nose.
In case you were wondering, this is a 4D ultra sound that was taken October 17th.
In case you were wondering, this is a 4D ultra sound that was taken October 17th.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Friday, October 06, 2006
Meeting up with Grandma Marylin
It's been about 6 years since the kids last saw their Grandma and Dave. This could be a good thing--absence makes the heart fonder--or a bad thing. But nevertheless, we tried to make up for lost time, and got to spend a number of days with both Grandma and Papa Dave. They were generous enough to let us stay in their former house, which had a pool, wonderful during the extreme hot season, temperatures reaching up to 43 degrees C!! And it was nice to have a place to retreat to every so often and be able to 'hang' at.
* Grandma and Jason
* Grandma and Julia
* Trinity and Erinn
* Julia in the pool
* Grandma and Jason
* Grandma and Julia
* Trinity and Erinn
* Julia in the pool
Peeping Jacq
I had a freaky experience this morning. I woke up earlier than usual, 5am, and around 6:45 went to take a shower. As I was showering I saw out of the corner of my eyes a pair of eyes disappearing from the little window in the shower-room. At first I was completely disoriented, and freaked out thinking we had a peeping tom back there. It took me about 30 seconds to gather my wits, and my tummy, and peer out the window to see who it was. And sure enough, it was a peeper, a peeping Jacq, peering into the window, pleading to be let into the house.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
A few odd shots
This is the day we arrived from the airport at Windy's, and the kids met their cousin Trinity for the first time. It was such a long flight, and a somewhat stressful arrival, but we made it all the way and finally got to relax and take showers, then sleep!
Marylin in the back yard.
Me and my sister Auty, who is almost an RN, congratulations to her!
Marylin in the back yard.
Me and my sister Auty, who is almost an RN, congratulations to her!
Sprinklers in Summer
Something I seem to remember doing as a child at some point--running through sprinklers. We don't have sprinklers like this in Japan, much less lawns, so the kids had great fun cooling off at the end of the day by dashing across the yard. Even Mike and Marylin jumped into the water!
A local fair
We spent part of the day while in LA at a local fair. The kids got $5 each and decided to spend it on an airbrush tatoo. Of course, Janina asked me if she could get a real one, to which I, being the good mother that I am, said NO WAY, not until you're at least 16 anyway. I'm hoping that by that time she'll have forgotten about it, hehe!
Jason turned out to be quite the good big brother, pushing Marylin around, and if Aunty Windy sends me her pictures, we'll have some of Jason giving Marylin a bath in the sink. It's good to know I'll have plenty of help with the new baby coming soon.
Later on I gave the kids $1/each to spend at the ice-cream truck. What Jason thought was going to be a delicious new candy turned out to be something horribly sour! He shared a bit with Marylin who loved it, in her own way.
Jason turned out to be quite the good big brother, pushing Marylin around, and if Aunty Windy sends me her pictures, we'll have some of Jason giving Marylin a bath in the sink. It's good to know I'll have plenty of help with the new baby coming soon.
Later on I gave the kids $1/each to spend at the ice-cream truck. What Jason thought was going to be a delicious new candy turned out to be something horribly sour! He shared a bit with Marylin who loved it, in her own way.
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