To my Children...Part 2

It has been 11 days since we have been on solid ground in PA and there are a few more thoughts I needed to express to you.

1. Once we return to Japan, there will be NO vacation fairy bringing you gifts every morning.
2. You will NOT be allowed to watch tv before bedtime.
3. You WILL go to bed by 8pm - not 10.
4. You WILL have to get up by 7am and get fed and dressed right away so we can get to school.
5. You will NOT get to go to every bounce house, museum, movie, indoor pool in the tri-state area.
6. You will NOT get pizza or chicken nuggets every night for dinner.
7. We will NEVER have cocoa puffs for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
8. It is NOT normal to visit with multiple friends and family every single day.
9. There WILL be a limit on the number of hours you spend in front of the tv, Wii or DS.
10.We will NOT be able to go to Target whenever we want (I am sad about this one too).

BUT...
1. We WILL be with Daddy again!!!
2. You WILL get to go to your own schools and see your own friends and live in your own rooms with your own toys.
3. You WILL have a normal routine and know what to expect each day (like Tuesday and Thursdays is swim lessons, etc).
4. You will NOT have to spend every second of every day with each other or with me - you will have independence.
5. You WILL have chances to make good decisions to earn privileges or money (which always feels better than just having things handed to you).
6. You WILL like eating mommy's dinners all together as a family with a gratitude attitude (meaning you like my food or politely just say thanks anyway).
7. You WILL still get presents sent from Tishymom, and Poppop, and Mommom and Poppop, and Aunt Eileen, and Kiki, etc... which is always fun to get things in the mail!
8. You WILL get to see more things in Japan...like cherry blossoms and shrines and rivers and mountains and watch the Japanese recover with humility and grace and learn life lessons far beyond what Mommy and Daddy could possibly teach you!
9. You WILL get to see super cool relief efforts from the military. Marines, sailors, Army guys and our own Air Force...working together and bringing all the awesome planes and helicopters to help Japan in their time of need. We will help out anyway we can, like making cookies to give to the volunteers working the night shifts or putting together backpacks for school-aged kids so they can start going back to a normal routine and learning again. We will have fundraisers and we will add Japan to our prayers every night and we will forever remember how grateful we are for our host country. We will be glad (one day) that we were able to be a direct part of this event.
10. You WILL continue to be loved more than you could possibly know and Mommy and Daddy WILL continue to protect you as best as we can!!!

So, as much as we are having fun and getting spoiled in the United States right now, it will be awesome when it is time to go back to our home...JAPAN!