Every time we are honored to do a Japanese custom, like rice pounding to make mochi, or dances, or whatever, I think that it is my turn to share a bit of our culture. Maybe making gingerbread houses is a bit more what I like to do, but cookies are quicker, and edible!
This is the family of one of my English students. He is a dentist, and has 3 small children. Miu, who is 6, speaks quite a bit of English, and very clearly! They live at the park we frequent, and I want her and William to start hanging out together. Of course, with William's stubborn streak, I'm sure she'll learn more English than he will Japanese! She did quite well decorating cookies. William refused to show up until the end, and then he helped eat one. 
Mina, was the absolute cutest. At 2, she had me wrapped around her little chubby fingers. She kept wanting to wash her hands because this included me scurrying after her with a stool, and getting assistance from me. They stamped out some cookies (I cheated and used Pillsbury's pre-rolled sugar cookie dough... it made the flour mess not exist), and then, I had to explain what the word 'cheat' meant. This is a hard concept to explain to a Japanese in simple English. I suppose I should have sold it as working 'smart' and 'efficiently.'
When we were done, we had quite the great cookie collection. It was fun, and I'm sure they're still on a sugar high! The Japanese use significantly less sweeteners than we do. I actually like it. They usually say, 'too sweet' when they eat an American goodie.
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