Ms. Michinaka enjoys spending time alone at home after her three children busily leave for school.
"I love being at home, reading books, baking sweets, playing with my dog "Arare", and having coffee and bark chocolate. It's quiet until my second son comes home around 3 PM. As soon as he's back, he's like, 'Anything to eat?' (laughs). I always keep chocolate on hand for the kids."
"For the kids, I have colorful chocolates. My eldest daughter likes matcha, and my eldest son likes yuzu and hojicha, so they each have their preferred flavors."
Ms. Michinaka is also skilled at making lunchboxes. For about 10 years, since her eldest daughter, who will be in her third year of junior high school next year, started kindergarten, Ms. Michinaka has been making lunchboxes for her three children. During kindergarten, it was five days a week. In years when siblings overlapped, she made two.
"At first, I wasn't very good at it, but after many years, I learned how to make them look nice even in a small space. The kids never commented, though (laughs)."
That 10-year period of making lunchboxes finally came to an end in February of this year.
"My eldest son's 'cram school bento' safely finished. On cram school days, I would make a lunchbox and give it to him in the evening. I always included chocolate for a sugar boost. On the day of the exam, I even put in 10 pieces (laughs)."
On the day of the exam, Ms. Michinaka, who made her usual lunchbox, put a special message in the chocolate.
"I received many encouraging messages from his cram school teachers, but knowing my son, I thought he probably wouldn't read all of them (laughs). So, I picked words that would resonate with him and wrote them on the chocolate wrappers. When he came back, they were all crumpled up. But I'm happy he brought them back and didn't throw them away (laughs)."
"Oh, but when they go to junior high, the lunchbox routine starts again..." Ms. Michinaka murmured. March is a short break. Ms. Michinaka's lunchbox life continues.
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Shiho Michinaka is a mother raising three children: her eldest daughter (second year of junior high), eldest son (sixth grade), and second son (second grade). Her hobby of baking sweets is professional-level!
Instagram:@___.fujimu
