Today and tomorrow, I am out during the day to exhibit at a charity bazaar at an international school near by. I don’t know if I’d ever mentioned here, but I promote Japanese art and craft as my part time job. At the bazaar this time, I am representing a Japanese ink artist, and we are selling some of her accessories such as scarves and greeting cards, along with a few artwork pieces from her accessible range of collection.
Anyway, it’s Monday today, but my daughter’s kindergarten happens to be closed as a substitute holiday for this “art exhibition” they had had at the kindergarten on last Saturday. I totally missed this important piece of information when I registered for the bazaar… Oops. What do I do with her while I’m out? I can’t take her to the bazaar as I wouldn’t be able to focus on the sales, and I cannot put her to daycare because it costs a fortune. The same for babysitters. My husband of course has to work, and my mum (the most reliable person when it comes to babysitting my daughter) couldn’t change her work shifts. After a moment of panic I surrendered and called my dad for help. He is semi-retired and has plenty of time free, but he is an old type and has almost no capability to take care of a child, let alone our super active 4 year old, and himself also perhaps. But I considered he should be able to spend a few hours with a little girl if I prepare everything for them in advance. I’m sure nothing disastrous would happen. I’d just have to accept some chocolate and icecream stains on my little girl’s sweater later today.
So here it is, I made a bento for my daughter on a holiday along with a bento for my dad so that they wouldn’t starve during my absence.
Menu: Grilled sawara fish marinated in saikyo-miso, Tofu omelet, Stir-fried spinach & bacon, Boiled green beans, Cherry tomato, Rice
Apple for dessert to share
* Just to give my dad some credit, he successfully completed his first mission to babysit his granddaughter. Thank you Jiji (‘grandpa’ in Japanese)!
SMALL TOKYO KITCHEN 