My 10 year old son will often get frustrated over something small and when I ask him what is going on he will usually answer "I am just so stressed". I'm not sure that he fully understands what stressed means, but I do know he is a bit of a stickler for the rules at school and that it often means he uses up all his patience and angel wings at school and then comes home and explodes. I figure I would rather have him being good at school and exploding at home than being perfect at home and exploding at school, but there are times when I would prefer he was just a little bad at school and less stressed at home!
Anyway, the mochi making at school on Sunday seems to have been great stress relief for him and after bashing mortars full of sticky rice for a few minutes he seems very relaxed for the last couple of days. The same can be said for my almost teenage daughter. Perhaps we should ask them to make it a weekly event... and perhaps the parents should take a more active role. It may make the world a calmer place!
I guess something resembling a sense of rhythm is useful in such situations...
ReplyDeleteI had a chance to make mochi with Erika's friends and relatives, a few years back. We had 5 wooden mallets pounding the same rice ball at the same time. Erika's mom was turning the mochi as we pounded it. The timing was crucial or someone could get hurt. I managed to break a mallet while hitting another mallet on the way down...oops! The pounding was a good stress reliever, but timing the blows without hitting anyone was very stressful.
ReplyDeleteYour husband should make them chop up the fire wood next time! Pounding mochi does seem a bit safer though....
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