Christmas is approaching, the kids are starting to think about their Christmas presents. Yes, if you live in the West and you have kids, they’ve probably started thinking about it a while ago, but here in Japan, Christmas isn’t as much of a big deal. In my household, it is a bit bigger than average for obvious reasons.
Recently, my son has started playing with his Paw Patrol toys again. I kinda hate the cartoon (because of how it glorifies things like the police among other things, and also because the dogs are just overall annoying) but hey, if he makes his own stories with the toys, I’m all for it. Anything that doesn’t make him want to use a screen more than he already does.
And a few days ago, he seriously hinted that he wanted the Paw Patrol Lookout Tower as a present. Well, dear son… I will have to politely decline. I didn’t explain the whys (that it’s a bit shitty and overpriced piece of plastic, basically – also, he still kinda believes in Santa… maybe… kids believe in Santa longer here, but he hasn’t mentioned Santa in a while, and I’m starting to wonder why) and I changed the subject: “Are you sure you don’t want Playmobils instead?”
Sadly, he truly doesn’t want Playmobils (more about them soon.) I recently understood that as they’re unknown here, his friends don’t have any, so they don’t talk about it at school, so they’re of no interest to him. For example, last year, he discovered Scooby-doo briefly before his birthday. My mom told me that all the Scooby-Doo Playmobils were seriously discounted at a shop near her, so she sent him a lot (Mystery Machine, Haunted Castle, and a few more, including the whole gang, of course.) He played twice with them, and now they’re basically mine.
Anyway, I kinda had forgotten about the Paw Patrol thing, but last Saturday, my daughter grabbed a few cardboard boxes ready to be discarded, a pair of scissors, and duct tape and started to build something. She sometimes – albeit rarely – does it and builds a house that lasts a day or two or something like that. I didn’t look at what it was until it was finished (she doesn’t like that) but I was surprised that she didn’t complete it after an hour or so, instead, she kept on working on it on Sunday too.
And then, it was complete.
I was speechless.
Just look (you have probably already seen the thumbnail):
She built a pretty accurate cardboard Paw Patrol lookout tower!
I’m still pinching myself. All of these art workshops I signed her up for in her childhood have paid off. I mean, after all, she had her first official art exhibit when she was two years old.
I can’t tell you how proud of her I am. Well, you can guess, as I’m writing a full blog post about it.
And the cherry on the cake is that she didn’t even make it for herself but for her brother! Probably as her Christmas present to him.
Now, I need to find a present that’s half as cool. Luckily, he also asked for some Pokémon and Splatoon 3. That, Santa can provide.
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