Obento

The daycare just moved Kai up by a class. They did this when we got back from Singapore. It is unusual to do this in Jan as the schoolyear starts in April. I think they did it cos his previous class (the Rabbit group) was overcrowded and the next class up (his present class, the Bear group) was quite empty, and as he was one of the older guys in his group ......

The problem with this is that they did not ask us or give us prior warning about it. They just bumped him up. And on the night of Jan 9, my MIL, who picks the kids up from daycare, told me that every month, Jan 10 is obento day for the Bear group (previous groups never had this!). Obento day means parents have to pack an obento (lunchbox) and send it along with the kid!!

As we had just got back from Singapore, there was nothing in our fridge and the shops were already closed. I told Tomo to tell the daycare that I will not be providing any obento as it was such last-minute notice and that they should provide Kai with a meal that day (which I did not think was a problem with the daycare as they have a kitchen and cook meals from scratch every morning). It seems that that is not a very Japanese thing to do as the next I heard, my MIL would be making Kai's obento! (And of course despite the fact that she knows I hate Kai eating pickles fermented in alcohol - Kai is only 2.5 yrs old - she put them into the obento!!!). I can already imagine all the fights I would be having with my own family and the J education system as Kai grows older! :-)

Anyway, it seems that in J kindergartens (at least most of them) and primary schools, the kids are sent to school with an obento packed by the mums. EVERY DAY! So the daycare is actually preparing the kids, and mums like me, for the shock of that!

I don't even know where to start to express how much I dislike the thought of this. It would not be so bad if I could do a 1-dish thing, like chicken curry and rice 1 day, beef stew and rice the next. But nooooo, that is not what an obento is supposed to be like. It has to contain something from every nutritional group for a balanced meal. So for e.g., in the mornings when I pack the obento, I would have to boil 2 tiny quails eggs, slice up 1/8th of a cucumber, spoon in 2 tablesoons of beef stew etc. Horrors!

Even if I were not a working mum but a stay-at-home mum, I think that would be a nightmare to prepare every morning! I can imagine myself buying an obento from 7-11 and then re-arranging/re-packing that to pass off as my own in some Disney character obento box!! ;-)

And it is not just the obento. Mums also have to sew some kind of school bag and other stuff for the kids. And these stuff can't be purchased cos every school requires a different dimension/material etc. Jeez!

I will just have to search for that school out there that does not require all these. If there is one. :-(