Yesterday was a very happy day for me in my life as a parent. Jio read an actual English book (with a little help) all the way through! Hooray, hooray! I guess that expensive private school is paying off. The book was the classic Go, Dog. Go! by P. D. Eastman. It’s 64 pages, so that almost counts as two books. Back in the day, picture books were nearly novellas. Whenever I read those interminable Dr. Seuss books at bedtime (If I Ran the Zoo, etc.) I’m always thinking, clearly this man did not have children of his own. Anyway, I gave Jio five dollars, as promised, and then had the brilliant idea of making a point card for him. If he reads nine books, he gets a toy. He immediately grabbed Sumo Boy and read/recited it.
In other news, my dad has been working with Jio in the pool. His first day in, he had to be rescued from the deep end. He can now float a little and can almost swim. He’s made a lot of progress in less than a week. I wonder what he was doing in swimming school in Japan…
Gaijin Mama 
Hooray! That was my favorite book of all time when I was a kid. “Now it is night. Sleep dogs sleep.”