[Life in Japan Theme Song]

子育ては簡単ではないですが

Well, it's 2021. Parenting has never been an easy job,

特にコロナ禍では大変です

But especially during a pandemic, it is very challenging.

コロナ禍以前の 家庭の状態に関わらず

And whatever the state of your family was before the pandemic,

コロナ禍の後は より大変だと思います

The pandemic came, and it just exaggerated whatever was happening.

小さな問題も 大きくなります

So if there were problems inside, it exaggerated those problems,

強みはこの局面で 活かされるでしょう

If there were good things happening, it actually kind of strengthened those things.

コロナ禍でも家族が 楽しく過ごせる方法を考えたいです

But today we want to look at how can you live and have a happy family during pandemic.

コロナ禍の子育てで 何が一番大変だった？

For you, what was the biggest like change and challenge of parenting here with the pandemic?

子供と24時間 一緒にいる事かしら

Well, I think first of all having the kids home 24 hours a day...

勉強もお母さんが 教えないといけないし

All of a sudden all of us moms instantly became teachers.

突然だったから 選択肢も無かったわ

It wasn't like a choice to teach our children, we were just kind of tossed into that.

ずっと家にいて

And then having them home...

子供が出掛けないのは 劇的な変化だったわ

I mean there's just totally, a totally a different dynamic to having your kids home all the time.

夏休みは大好きだけど

I love summer breaks, I love breaks when my kids are home,

今回分かったのが

But one thing I find totally interesting when my kids are home is

正午にランチを食べて

We eat lunch — let's just pretend like we eat at noon.

10分で食べ終わると

They finish at 12:10

5分もすると "ママ お腹空いた" って言うの

At 12:15 they will come and say "Mom, we're hungry. What's there to eat?"

びっくりよね

I'm like "Seriously?!"

これが数か月続いたの

And this was months of this because everyone was stuck at home.

栄養バランスの良い食事を作って 洗濯もして

And you're trying to balance healthy eating and healthy routines and school and tons of laundry

掃除もマメにして

Because kids are home all the time, making messes and cleaning house,

旦那も家で仕事

Husbands are home with work, it's just...

一気に仕事が増えたわ

It was a lot to take in all at once.

何とかなったけど

But! We made it through.

まだ取組んでる事もあるよね

And there's still more of it here that we're working through now.

家族皆で出来る 楽しい事も大事だね

I'd say one thing that probably really helped for us too was finding fun things to do together

例えば

Like, on purpose, so

ベッカとアナが好きな "カタン" を一緒に遊んだり

Like Becca and Anna like to play Catan, so we'll play Catan with them

ジョシュアとマリオカートで遊んで

Or Joshua and I, we like to play MarioKart

家族みんなでプレイしたね

Uh, even the whole family really gets into MarioKart.

ウノも

And Uno. And Uno!

家族一緒の時間を過ごす事

Making purposeful times with the family together.

健康的なルーティンも大事よ

I think establishing a healthy routine is very important.

ルーティンに慣れると

Because then you get used to that,

その日にすることが明確になって

It helps you manage your day a little more instead of just wondering

"何しよう？" って悩む必要も無くなるし

"Well what am I going to do now? What am I going to do now?"

仕事は当然あるから

Well now it's time for this.

休みって訳じゃないし

Because we still had work to do

子供達は学校もあるから

It wasn't like we were all just on vacation for months,

食事に勉強に 遊びの時間

And the kids still had school, so they had their school time,

家族に合った ルーティンが大事だったわ

Then meal time, then play time and study time,

ジョシュア！

We just had to figure out a routine that worked with us all being in the house at the same time.

サラが迎えに来たよ

Joshua!

- 学校はどう？ - 楽しかった

Awww!

寂しかったよ

Sarah we came to pick you up!

健康的な食事も大事ね

Hey Sarah, how was school today? Good.

子供に食べ物を選ばせると

I missed you so much, Sarah.

シリアルかチョコかパン

Another thing I think was very helpful was establishing healthy eating patterns.

パンと白米が大好き

Because if I let my kids raid the fridge and feed themselves, Oh gosh

サラは白米に 少し醤油かけるのが好き

They would be eating cereal and chocolate and bread.

コロナ禍では玄米や野菜を 食事に取り入れたわ

My kids love bread. Oh, and white rice.

揚げ物よりオーブン

Plain rice. Just rice. Sarah would ask for it with a little shyoyu, soy sauce.

新しい料理も取り入れて

During this whole time we started experimenting with healthier options like whole grain rice and more vegetables

ヘルシーなスープや料理

And more baked things, not fried,

ジャンクフードは無し

And just introducing them to new things

健康的な食事は 元気の源です

Like different soups and foods that are healthy but fun

気分も安定して

But not just junk.

テンションが上がりすぎたり 下がりすぎたりしません

It's amazing — eating healthy helps you have the right type of energy

お腹も満たしてくれるので すぐにおやつをねだりに来ません

You don't go on these highs and lows.

よく "完璧な家族！" と コメントを貰いますが

Sugar high and then you fall and you drop and you're cranky.

僕たちは完璧？

And it would fill them up so they're not begging for food every 5 minutes.

まさか！

So a lot of people comment, they're like "What a beautiful, wonderful family! You guys look perfect."

天使に見える？

So... are we perfect?

大変な事もあります 特に自粛中は

All the time!

一人の時間がありません

Do you see my halo?

今住んでる家は ブラジルやアメリカの家より小さいので

We definitely have had our moments, especially during the pandemic, has brought it out

ずっと同じ空間にいます

When you're with each other all the time Yeah

僕らはどう乗り越えてきた？

And our house is much smaller than the house we had either in the States or in Brazil,

子供達や僕らが 一人になりたい時

So you're in each others' business all the time

車を使った時もあるわね

What— how have we kind of dealt with that?

一人の時間が欲しい時は 車で過ごしたりもしたわ

When someone's got a little upset or when the kids need to be alone or one of us...

僕よくやるよね

Needs to be alone. Well at one point we said "Well the car's available."

ネイトは毎朝そうします

If anyone needs some alone time, you can just go sit in the car a little bit.

車に乗ってお気に入りの 公園に行きます

And actually I do that, don't I?

最高のリラックスタイムです

He does that every morning, he goes...

いつでも電話できる 友人の存在も助かりました

I'll go get in the car and go for a little drive to a park I really like

母に電話したり

And it's the perfect time to kind of, like, just stretch out a little bit.

妹に電話したり 友達にメールしたり

So you know a lot of things that really helped me was having close friends that I could call up

アドバイスや 励ましをもらいました

I would call up my mom,

状況を理解してくれる人に 少し愚痴を言ったり

I'd call up my sisters, I had other friends that I was texting,

支え合う関係は 本当に重要です

And just getting advice and encouragement

コロナ禍じゃなくても

Or just complaining a little to someone who understood what I was going through.

子育ては一筋縄ではいかないから

And having that support system really, really is helpful.

両親 祖父母 または 先輩の女性にアドバイスをもりました

Not only during a pandemic, but anytime

教会には頼りになる女性も 沢山います

Because raising children is not something that we just all know the answers to, you know?

困った時に 助けを求めることは大事です

Seeking advice from our parents and our grandparents or older ladies...

恥ずかしいかもしれないけど 話す事は大事です

We have a lot of wise ladies in our church that we can—that I like to seek advice from

同じ経験をした人が 必ずいると思います

I think it's very important to, if you don't know what to do, if you don't know the answer, to find someone who can help you.

子供をどうしつけ 楽しませ 暖かい家庭を築くか

And don't feel ashamed to open up about something that maybe you feel like is embarrassing

健全な家庭を築くには 積極的な努力が必要です

Because chances are somebody else is also struggling with the same thing,

自然に出来上がる訳では ありません

Wondering how to keep their kids in line, or keep them entertained or just to keep a happy family atmosphere.

毎晩 聖書を読む時間も持ちます

A healthy family atmosphere really does take work

聖書の一句を一緒に読みます

And you got to be intentional about it

病気の人や家族の為に 皆で祈ります

It just doesn't happen by accident.

ダンスも大好きです

One thing that we always do too is every evening we have family devotion time

ダンスの様子は 動画にも出てると思いますが

Where we read the verse of the day from the Bible

元気な クリスチャン系の 音楽をかけて

And we take turns praying — praying for people that are sick or for our family

子供たちは 楽しく体操出来ます

And also we like to dance!

神様を賛美することで 家族全員が元気をもらいます

I'm sure you've seen in previous videos, we do a lot of dancing in our house.

なぜか音楽をかけて踊ると 気分が晴れます

And we turn on a good Christian upbeat song

雰囲気が一変します

And the kids dance, it helps them get their energy out,

他にも気づいた事が 沢山あります

But also gives them positive energy because it's exciting, we're praising Jesus, and it's something good that we can do.

登校前にテレビゲームは させません

So it's amazing, if you're depressed or sad or down, if you start dancing and have happy music on

学校に行く気がなくなります

It really does change the atmosphere

登校前は音楽をかけて

We found things that really helped us day by day, and still today

聖書の物語を テレビに流しますが

I try not to let the girls play on the Switch or do any electronic games before they go to school

ゲームと携帯は禁止です

It seems like it puts them in a bad mood to want to leave for school.

登校前は絵を描いたりもします

So before school we turn on music,

サラは折り紙を使って 色んな物を作ります

Or we can watch Bible stories online,

驚くよね

But no gaming, no... phone

何作ってるの サラ？

A lot of times they'll do artistic things and that's when they'll start drawing things

- 見せて - 犬だよ

Or Sarah makes all these origami things that are just amazing

- 折り紙で？ - うん

Yeah It's like my goodness!

どこで覚えたの？

(Singing) Whatcha making Sarah, Sarah Sarah Bear-ah, Sarah Bear-a?

- 先生に教わったの - 学校の？

Whatcha making? Let me see! I'm making a dog.

可愛いね

A dog? From Origami? Yea.

正直に言うと

How do you know how to do this?

私自身が子供達と 一緒に時間を過ごすより

It's my teacher. The teacher at school?

テレビに子守をさせた方が 楽でしょう

Aw, that's so cute.

でも 子供はちゃんと 覚えています

Because let me tell you what,

テレビばかり観ていた思い出か

Turning on the tv and leaving that as your babysitter is a lot easier than

或いは ママと一緒に遊んだり 料理をした思い出か

Me personally spending time with them and investing in them

裁縫を覚えた事

But, it's those times that they're going to remember

良い思い出を 残したいですね

When they grow up, are they going to be like "yea, my mom just let me watch tv whenever I wanted"

子供が親になった時に 模範になれるようにしたいです

Or are they going to be like "Oh yea, my mom played games with me, or she taught me how to make a recipe"

ルースのPCに 付箋が貼ってあるよね

Or she taught me how to sow

その話をしてくれる？

Those are the things that are going to be positive memories

"子供が思い出したくなる母親になろう"

That we want them to then pass on to their children and grandkids.

- このことだね - 自分自身への念押しです

So I like the little post it note that you have on your computer

私もこれからです！

Do you want to share what it says?

健康な家族は 健康な夫婦から始まります

I think it says "Be the mom you want your kids to remember"

僕らも完璧ではありませんが

It just goes along with what you're saying

互いへの理解と愛は感じます

I have to put in reminders for me to have a positive attitude

互いの弱さと強さと 一緒に生きていきます

It's a work in... I'm a work in progress.

僕には弱みも沢山あります

Even with a healthy family, it starts with a healthy marriage too

何かヒントある？

And although I don't feel like our marriage is perfect yet,

子供たちが小さい頃は 両親に預けて

I do feel we have a lot of love and understanding

二人でデートもしました

And working with each others strengths and weaknesses

ジョシュアは5歳になりましたが

I have plenty of my own weaknesses!

以前は家族以外の人と 出掛けられなかったので

How do we go about that?

コロナ禍で家族が 遊びに来れないのは

Well, we used to always look forward to when our parents would come,

かなりストレスでした

Either set, because they would help watch the kids so we could go out on dates

二人だけの時間が 無かったので

Because until now, well Joshua just turned 5

最初の数か月は 全員ずっと家で一緒でした

But before he was just too young to hardly leave with random people

何してるの？！

This last year, you know, with all our families not being able to come visit,

ママがテントを張ってくれたの

It's been extra stressful — I mean not stressful, but

リラックスしてるね

We haven't been able to really take time away, just the two of us

二人だけというのは 難しかったです

So for those first months we were just all stuck together in a house,

小学校が再開して 私も語学学校に行きました

What is going on?!

1日5時間新宿で勉強しました

Mommy put a tent up for us.

帰ったら家事

Chillin' in your tent.

二人だけの時間はあまり なかったです

So it's hard to just be Nate and I

子供達が寝てから

And then as soon as schools went back, I went back to school

一緒に映画鑑賞したり 少しでも一緒の時間を過ごしました

So I was studying in Shinjuku for 5 hours a day,

でも私は夜9時を過ぎると 眠くて仕方ありません

And then we'd come home and have housework,

この動画を観てる方の中で

So it was very hard for us to have just alone time.

"あなた達はいいけど 私の家族はもうどうにもならない"

But you have to just, after the kids go to bed,

と思ってる人は？

Watch something together, or listen to something or try to hang out a little bit

家庭に向き合うのに 遅すぎという事はありません

Except that, come 9:00 at night, I am not much good at anything.

夫婦関係から始めてください

What would you say to somebody who is watching and like

優先順位をどうつけるか 相談してください

"Wow- you know, that's great for you guys, but my family is a mess and I've screwed up."

子供達をハグしたり 愛を言葉で表現するだけで

What about that person?

子供たちの人生において 大きな影響をもたらします

Well, it's never too late to start trying and start investing in your family

子供達は愛が必要です スキンシップも必要です

If your marriage is in shambles, start there

何にも代えられないことです

Seek advice in what areas you should improve on first,

子供の友人関係も 把握しておいてください

You know, with your children, if you don't hug them or you don't say that you love them,

友達の影響は大きいです

Those are simple, small things you can do that will make a huge difference in their life

娘たちが友達と外で遊ぶ時

Because kids need that affection, they need that love, they need that physical touch

友達に良い影響を与えるように言います

And I think that is very, very important

絶対に悪い影響を与えないように

Keep an eye on who your kids friends are

親として 母として

Because they will be highly influenced by their friends

子供達の友人関係を 把握する事は大事です

We always tell the girls, because they go out and play with their friends

いつかQ&Aの動画も作りたいので

That we want them to influence their friends in positive ways

具体的な質問がある方

and never have their friends influence them negatively

子育てや家庭に関する質問

I think it's very important for us as parents, as mothers

"ここに行ったことある？" みたいな質問でも

To keep an eye on what friendships our kids are developing.

是非コメントして下さい

In a future video we want to do questions and answers,

数週間後の動画で いくつかの質問に答えます

So if you have any specific questions

付け加えることある？

Maybe it's about parenting or families

子供達についての質問も

Or maybe it's something fun like "Hey, have you ever gone to this place? Or tried this?"

ベッカ アナ サラ ジョシュアに 聞きたい事があれば

Whatever it might be, feel free to post your questions down here

コメントして下さい

And in a couple of weeks we'd like to respond to some of those

子供に答えてもらいます

Is there anything else that you would add at all?

- 面白そうだね - でしょ？

Well, if they have any questions about our kids,

いつもご視聴頂いてる皆さん ありがとうございます！

For our kids —you know— if you would like to ask Becca or Anna, Sarah or Joshua anything

チャンネル登録がまだでしたら 是非登録お願いします

Please write it in the comments and then we'll do a video in the future

応援に感謝します

and sit them down and see what their answer are to your questions.

また次回お会いしましょう！

Could be very interesting. Yeah, it could.

Well we're so thankful for each and every one of you that has been watching us and following us

If you haven't subscribed yet, please do so, it really does help this channel grow

And we appreciate you guys so much

And until next time, we'll see you on Life in Japan

Bye bye! bye.