More than just child's play

| Oct 4, 2002

More than just child's play

Until I became a mother, I had never heard of a playgroup. Three babies later, I can say that establishing a thriving playgroup has been one of my greatest achievements in recent years. It is not hard to find a playgroup here in Japan. ...

| Jul 5, 2002

Equal but different

My 18-month-old daughter, Marin, was involved in a tug-of-war over a toy with a little friend a few months older. The boy gave my daughter a small shove and won possession of the coveted toy, and Marin promptly burst into noisy sobs. The other ...

| Oct 26, 2001

If it's Tuesday, it must be . . . swimming?

No doubt about it, life in Japan is busy — and even small children have a “schedule.” All of my son’s first-grade friends at Japanese elementary school have at least one after-school activity, if not two or three. An informal survey revealed that piano ...