Source: Pin (@28Xom9) - image used with permission

What these fathers wrote to their children will make you laugh… or cry

Japanese daycare nurseries often rely on a type of "contact notebook" to foster communication between parents and teachers. Parents will write about their child's condition—for example, are they are getting on at home or managing any type of conditions—and hand off the notebook to daycare staff when dropping off their children. Conversely, staff will make notes about a child's participation and condition throughout the day. In this way, staff and parents maintain communication despite busy schedules and often hectic pick-up and drop-off times. As thorough communication is a virtue in the country, it's hardly surprising that the system is still in place today.

When Dad takes the lead

Twitter user Pin (@28Xom9) recently gave birth to her second daughter. While joyous, the experience was clearly stressful as the Twitterer spent time with her newborn in the hospital. To pick up the slack, Pin's husband played mom and dad during her absence and, among other things, picked up and dropped off the couple's eldest at nursery school each day. Naturally, this involved keeping careful notes in the contact notebook.

However, upon returning to a normal schedule, Pin couldn't help but notice the notes her husband made. Although she was surprised, she couldn't help but have a laugh and share her discovery on SNS:

"[Note] At home: The same as yesterday, when I picked her up, her expression was like, "What the F---Why are you here? Where is Mom?"

Moreover, he noted that when the youngster came home, she immediately started devouring her snack and began rampaging around the house—with juice in hand—like a gorilla. He couldn't help but fret whether she is playing nicely at the nursery school. Pin tweet noted:

"This is what happened when you leave your husband in charge of the nursery school contact notebook. Looooool."

According to Pin, a poop mark was ever-so-subtly drawn at the top of the page to indicate that, "She had a bowel movement." Sure enough, many mothers on the SNS platform couldn't help but chuckle at this particularly blunt type of writing:

  • "The dirty drawing is the best part. Lol”
  • “I've been a childcare worker for a while now, and I find messages like this in contact notebooks. The teachers share these kinds of messages amongst each other, and there is always a competition to see who gets to write the reply. Lol”
  • “Seeing the poop mark written in the contact book makes me laugh.”

Another letter from a father

There is another letter from a father to his daughter floating around on Twitter. This particular parent took a time-capsule type of approach to show his appreciation of his daughter. He wrote a letter when his daughter was born and gave it to her when she became an adult, at the age of 20 in Japan. His daughter Misaru (@misaru48) posted the letter on Twitter where it has been widely circulated:

"To my daughter upon turning 20. It’s December 18th, 1994, today. The person writing this letter is your father. I’m turning 31 in 2 days. When you read this letter, I’ll soon be 51. You were born yesterday, December 17th. I was so happy to hear that you are a girl. We have a boy (your brother), and having a girl now makes us feel so happy!! I decided on your name. I told your mother just before you were born, and she said she likes it..."

Misaru’s father continued...

"I know you will become a beautiful young woman, and I think time will fly over the next 20 years. You are 20 now. I can’t imagine that, but I’m sure you have become a fantastic woman. I'm so excited. Your mother and your brother are at your grandmother's house in Hiroshima now. Your mother and I will devote ourselves to the two of you now, which makes me happy. You came here for us, and I will always be there for you. I promise."

Naturally, the popularity of the message is easy to understand. The heartwarming note is indeed moving. Readers could easily understand how much he cares for his family.

Misaru’s father concluded:

"Finally, congratulations on turning 20. I’ve loved you since you were in your mother’s belly, and I will love you when you turn 20. I hope we'll be close even when you become an adult."

Misaru included her reaction to the letter in the tweet:

"A letter written by my dad the day after I was born. I regret many things, and I'm sure I’ve made him sad more than I could imagine, even though he gave me a lot of love. I want to make my mom and dad happy! Reading this, I cried in the early morning."

Indeed, family ties—in good times and bad—run deep...

By - Luke Mahoney.

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