October 04, 2022
Grand Prizeð"Beyond the Gaze"
This is my favorite park where I often take my three children to play. When I hold my third son here, I sometimes remember something that happened four years ago and it makes me feel sad.
My dad is very busy and has a day off once a month. Even when he's not around, I want to entertain my kids, so I take them to various places by myself. Four years ago, I went to the usual park with my second son, who was just starting to walk, and my eldest son, who was three years old and going through the "no" phase.
I chased after the two of them running in the opposite direction, and when we were about to go home after playing a lot, my second son started to get sleepy and whine. My eldest son, who was tired from playing, also held out his hand to me, saying "Mommy, hold me." But my heavy luggage and my second son who was acting up...
"Mommy is busy right now, can you walk us to the car?" I said, but my tired eldest son, who was in the "terrible twos", replied, "No! Hold me!"...He had only just turned three. Looking back, that made sense.
If he started crying now, it would just make things even more complicated. I was tired, so I roughly picked up my son and carried him to the car, where he ended up crying.
I'm tired too! I actually want to go to the park with the whole family too! I'm jealous of families where the dad has the day off! All of these feelings that I usually keep bottled up came flooding out and I took it out on my eldest son.
I wonder what kind of look I had when I looked at my eldest son that day. It probably wasn't what you would call a look.
Now that my eldest son is 7 and my second son is 6, my two older brothers talk to my 3-year-old son with very gentle eyes. When my second and third sons say they are tired, I hold my second son and my eldest son holds my third son.
On the days when I used to go out to play in place of my husband, before I knew it, I was going out because I wanted to play with the kids.
With that thought in mind, I took a picture with the self-timer at the usual park, wondering how I was looking at my beloved children at that time.
As I looked ahead, I saw three people looking at me with such loving gazes.
My dad is very busy and has a day off once a month. Even when he's not around, I want to entertain my kids, so I take them to various places by myself. Four years ago, I went to the usual park with my second son, who was just starting to walk, and my eldest son, who was three years old and going through the "no" phase.
I chased after the two of them running in the opposite direction, and when we were about to go home after playing a lot, my second son started to get sleepy and whine. My eldest son, who was tired from playing, also held out his hand to me, saying "Mommy, hold me." But my heavy luggage and my second son who was acting up...
"Mommy is busy right now, can you walk us to the car?" I said, but my tired eldest son, who was in the "terrible twos", replied, "No! Hold me!"...He had only just turned three. Looking back, that made sense.
If he started crying now, it would just make things even more complicated. I was tired, so I roughly picked up my son and carried him to the car, where he ended up crying.
I'm tired too! I actually want to go to the park with the whole family too! I'm jealous of families where the dad has the day off! All of these feelings that I usually keep bottled up came flooding out and I took it out on my eldest son.
I wonder what kind of look I had when I looked at my eldest son that day. It probably wasn't what you would call a look.
Now that my eldest son is 7 and my second son is 6, my two older brothers talk to my 3-year-old son with very gentle eyes. When my second and third sons say they are tired, I hold my second son and my eldest son holds my third son.
On the days when I used to go out to play in place of my husband, before I knew it, I was going out because I wanted to play with the kids.
With that thought in mind, I took a picture with the self-timer at the usual park, wondering how I was looking at my beloved children at that time.
As I looked ahead, I saw three people looking at me with such loving gazes.
Photo and caption: mayuko
Comment from Advisor
Back to Manazashi Photo Club Photo Contest
Comment: Etsuko Aibu (Advisor of the Manazashi Photo Club)