Cradle to grave

In Japan, the new semester starts in April.
Therefore, many people are trying to assimilate into their new circumstances right now.
Yes, many people...especially, kids!

In my English language school, I take care of many of those kids. As you can imagine, the younger they are, the harder to get accustomed to new classes.
So, those whom I'm concerned the most are...babies.
Until last March, kids in "baby" class took my lessons with their moms.
However, those who will be three years old this fiscal year, entered "a class for three year old kids."
Therefore, now they take my English lessons without their moms even though they are just 27 months or so.

Before the classes started, I was optimistic.
This year, kids in that age started to take my lessons when they became one year old.
I knew they liked me very much, and they already got accustomed to our school and staff.
At the first class, they were fine. They came to my classroom alone, and answered my questions as usual.

However, since the second week of April...they started to miss their mothers.
They started to wonder, why their mothers were not in the classroom with them.
I kept talking to them, "Since you are SO GOOD kid and I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH, I want to have fun with you in English, ALONE!! You are special kids who can do so! Your moms know how hard you can work, so they're looking forward to hearing what you learned today!"
...However, it was obvious that two year old kids couldn't understand it.
They JUST missed their mothers!!

Last week, they were crying so hard, twisting their bodies, saying, "I miss mommy! Mommy! Please come!!" They tried to escape from the classroom several times...
I stopped them, held them in my left arm. But, by the right arm, I tried to search something made them comfort, (like toys, dolls, or books) and tried to go on my English lesson.
(I have two babies of that age. But each one comes to different days, so I have one baby in each class.)

I felt like I was torturing the cute babies. My class was like "the hell" because the babies were crying SO hard & trying to escape from me and the classroom... Maybe, I was like a "great king of the hell" for them...
However, their mothers were in the HEAVEN during the time.
They trust me, so they left the school to shop, enjoying a brief rest from busy parenting days.
I don't want the moms to take it serious, so after they came back school, I said,"They did a GREAT job! They missed you, and cried A LITTLE, but they tried to learn! Great!!"

Without knowing my intention, one of the babies, Takumi, still cried so hard, sticking to his mom, and said.
"Potato's place! Potato's place!!"
Because I was with him for a certain time, I understood what he was trying to say.
"Takumi! You mean, "Take me to the POTATO'S PLACE as a reward of taking English lesson alone, don't you? And, the "POTATO'S PLACE" means McDonald's! Right?"
His mom was surprised.
"...Yeah! I think you're right!! How do you know, his "potato's place" is the hamburger restaurant, McDonald's??"

I know! Because my hubby sometimes says the almost same thing to me!!
When he was a kid, his mother took him McDonald's during the time his sister was taking some classes. Since then, McDonald's has still been his kind of "haven." ("Heaven" sounds exaggerated, though...)
Plus, many other kids just LOVE McDonald's!!
They often show me their toys from the "happy set."

It is said, "What is learned in the cradle is carried to the grave."
It's true! People don't forget what they enjoyed in their childhood...in my opinion, ESPECIALLY boys do not forget it.