Introduction

For background/how to use this series, see the first post.

This time, we have a long blog post to read. There are lots of really funny blogs by moms in Japan. The top-rated ones often are full manga blogs or incorporate manga panels into a text blog post. This one is one of the latter. 子育て ("Raising Children") is the most popular blog category on Ameba.

Text Link

Vocab List

Kanji Reading English Gloss Frequency Notes
いる to be 9450.26
なる to become 4585.21
ある to be (inanimate) 4306.64
言う いう to say, to tell 2503.41
もの thing 2321.65
できる to be able to do 1949.53
私 わたし I, me 1769.37
思う おもう to think 1179.8
みる to look at 1163.23
自分 じぶん oneself 1010.73
なに？ what? 877.59
～の前 ～のまえ in front of ~ 614.09 compound, 前 is 614.09
そして and 561.3
出る でる to exit, to leave 553.51
入る はいる to enter, to start (metaphorical) 473.93
ひとつだけ just one thing 457.67 compound, ひとつ is 457.67
やる informal version of する 435.1
情報 じょうほう information 359.14
男 おとこ man 347.96
～回 かい ~times 329.46
置く おく to leave something 189.56
食べる たべる to eat 189.42
生きる いきる to live, to be alive 177.18
今日 きょう today 173.4
こちら this direction (polite) 169.02
初めての はじめての first (+ noun) 154.27 compound, 初めて is 154.27
母 はは mother 152.5
飲む のむ to drink 152.43
父 ちち father (out-group kinship term or abbreviation) 149.12
帰る かえる to go home 144.35
死ぬ しぬ to die 139.17
描く かく to draw 136.85
専門学校 せんもんがっこう specialized vocational college 124.27 compound (専門 is 124.27 and 学校 is 237.36)
お店 おみせ store, shop 120.45
小さい ちいさい small 120.01
話す はなす to talk 110.26
オレ I, me (hyper mascline) 105.82
色 いろ color 103.58
明日 あした tomorrow 99.11
始める はじめる to begin 96.55
驚く おどろく to be surprised 92.77
しばらく a little while 85.47
まるで almost like, just like 84.42
ダメ no good 80.84
感覚 かんかく sensation 77.8
仕方 しかた method, way 76.88
日常 にちじょう everyday, everyday life 75.89
すごい awesome, amazing 71.66
いろいろ various 69.18
嬉しそう うれしそう seems happy 69.07 inflected form, 嬉しい is 69.07
綺麗な きれいな pretty 68.12
息子 むすこ son 66.14
お母さん おかあさん mother (in-group kinship term) 61.1
味 あじ flavor 60.17
友達 ともだち friend 60.17
瞬間 しゅんかん moment 59.32
それでも even so 58.32
体験 たいけん (personal) experience 56.66
大丈夫 だいじょうぶ okay, all right 54.82
美味しい おいしい delicious 54.45
一番 いちばん best, the most 50.94
ついに at long last 49.95
記事 きじ article 48.45
急に きゅうに suddenly 46.81
素材 そざい raw materials 42.07
甘い あまい sweet (taste) 41.63
おわり おわり the end of something 41.05
兄弟 きょうだい brothers, siblings 37.84
高３ こうさん short for 高校三年生, third year in high school 37.44 shortened form, 高校 is 46.71 and　年生 is 37.44
〜年生 〜ねんせい ~year student 37.44
コーヒー coffee 36.75
やってくる to come, to show up, to arrive 35.66
適当に てきとうに half-assed, the bare minimum you can get away with 31.98
本格的に ほんかくてきに genuinely 29.12
楽しみ たのしみ looking forward to 27.89
～用 ～よう for the purpose of ~ 26.15
我が家 わがや our house(hold) 25
まかせて leave it to me! 24.72 inflected form, まかせる is 24.79
～のとこ ~'s place 23.64 compound, とこ is 23.64
格好 かっこう costume, form, outfit 23.49
遺伝 いでん genetics 20.29
掃除する そうじする to clean 19.88
病 やまい、びょう sickness, illness 19.77
田舎 いなか the countryside 19.37
摂取 せっしゅ intake, dietary intake 19.37
中 なか inside 18.27
オレンジ orange 17.32
住まい すまい dwelling, habitat 16.98
覗く のぞく to peek at 16.67
頼りになる たよりになる to be reliable 15.58 compound, 便り is 15.58
苦手 にがて to hate, to have trouble dealing with 14.49
実家 じっか one's parents' house 14.32
平気 へいき okay, doing fine 14.22
長男 ちょうなん oldest son 14.11
説得 せっとく persuasion, influence 14.08
蛾 が moth 13.81
大分 だいぶ considerably 12.91
汚部屋 おへや、おべや dirty room 12.72 compound of 汚 (dirty, 汚い is 12.72) and 部屋 (frequency is 184.65)
わりと relatively 12.07 compound, わり is 12.07
諦める あきらめる to give up 11.86
前回 ぜんかい last time 10.33
片付ける かたづける to tidy up 7.84
カロリー calories 7.74
方 かた person (polite) 7.67
すっきり refreshed 6.07
罪悪感 ざいあくかん feeling guilty 5.08 compound, 罪悪 is 5.08
交渉する こうしょうする to negotiate 4.98
ようこそ welcome 4.48
未知 みち as yet unknown 4.09
漬ける つける to soak, to pickle 4.06
ブログ blog 3.78
自由気ままに じゆうきままに freewheeling 3.69 自由 is 179.91 and 気まま is 3.69
一人暮らし ひとりぐらし living alone 3.55
プロフィール profile 3.31
段ボール だんボール cardboard 3.03
思い立つ おもいたつ to decide to do, to take it into one's head to do 2.8
ばったり suddenly, with a thud 2.59
一晩 ひとばん one night, overnight 2.49
上達する じょうたつする to make progress 2.42
ゴキブリ cockroach 1.94
コロッケ croquettes 1.88
切り札 きりふだ a trump card (literal and metaphorical) 1.09
ローズマリー rosemary 0.58
早く はやく quickly 0.38
売り切れ うりきれ sold out 0.34
ガサガサ sound of something rustling/crinkling (like plastic bags) 0.27
アイスティー iced tea 0.14
おだて flattery 0.1
黙々と もくもくと silently 0.03
アラフィフ 50-something 0 too infrequent
よかったら if you'd like 0
ください please 0
きゅっ onomatopoeia for tying a knot 0
いざという時 いざというとき when push comes to shove 0 idiom
こういう時 こういうとき times like this 0 compound
ひょこ onomatopoeia for peeking out from behind something 0
なんとかして do something! 0 phrase
平岡 ひらおか Hiraoka (surname) 0
ド～ extreme ~ 0
ド田舎 ドいなか the middle of nowhere, really out in the boonies 0
ちょうどいい just right (like Goldilocks) 0 phrase
西陽 にしはる Nishiharu (proper name) 0
ガムシロップ gum syrup 0

Grammar List

Translation

My Oldest Son Cleans His Dirty Room

Welcome (*^▽^*)

This is the blog comic of a freewheeling 50-something mother about her daily life with her sons. One is a high school senior and one is a sophomore at vocational school.

If this is your first time here, you can read a little bit about my sons here.

(Link) Firstly

Panel:
Narration: My oldest son, who has been living in filth,
[A man who starts with the right outfit!]
SFX: knot!
Narration: started cleaning!

Even though he would only ever clean halfheartedly if I told him to do it... (He'd clean and I'd be like "Huh? You're done?") I tried coaxing him in various ways but it never worked. So I gave up, thinking he was just afflicted with an inability to clean.

Panel:
Narration: Wow! Even though he would never do it no matter how many times I told him to...
SFX: rustle rustle
Narration: He's been (rarely?) influenced to tidy up by Papa Rea!
Label: Dad

With just a talk from Papa Rea (although it did take 2-3 rounds of negotiation) my oldest son started actually, really cleaning as an oldest son should. When push comes to shove, Papa Rea becomes my trump card. He's really reliable at times like this.

For a while, he just cleaned silently, but after a little bit...

Panel:
Son: Mom, there's something I need your help with.
SFX: peek
Son: [It's something only you can do...]
Mom: Huh? What is it? What is it? [Leave it to me!]
Arrow: Happy

Panel:
Son: There's a dead moth in that cardboard box. Do something about it?
Son: [I-I'm going over here.]
Mom: [Ehhhh?] ...
Mom: He called me over because of a bug.

My kids hate moths the most.

When I was a kid, I hated moths the most, too. (Now, I'm okay as long as they're not too big). I wonder if I passed those genes on to them?

I wonder if he'll be okay living alone?

I hated cockroaches too, but when you live alone you just have to deal with it yourself! I realize now I've leveled up quite a bit.

I want him to hurry up and live alone and have some new experiences.

Sachiopia Information

I took it in my head to go to Sachiopia Coffee today. I suddenly craved Hiraoka-san's croquettes...

Hiraoka-san's blog is over here (link).

These are the croquettes from Hiraoka-san's parents' house. You can really taste the ingredients.

This is the coffee-flavored "boondocks pudding." It wasn't too sweet, so it was just perfect, and didn't make me feel guilty for consuming too many calories.

This is the "Nishiharu Coffee" that was sold out last time so I couldn't get it. It's such a pretty color, just like iced tea.

It does taste like coffee, but it's refreshing so it kind of feels like iced tea when you drink it. Even if you don't like coffee, you could probably drink this.

It was delicious, so I tried making some gum syrup to make my own Nishiharu Coffee.

I'm going to leave it overnight. I'm looking forward to using it tomorrow!

Orange + rosemary + gum syrup

And then on my way home....as soon as I left the restaurant, I ran into a friend in front! I was very surprised! Here's an article about that friend.

My friend came!