『Victory Note』, a parenting diary written by author Kim Ha-na's mother from the day she gave birth to her daughter until her fifth birthday.
The original 『Victory Note』, the number one treasure in a daughter's life, was reborn as a book spanning 46 years with comments from the mother and daughter added to the present.
Additionally, through the neat and modern essay of author Lee Ok-seon, the mother, we can glimpse the life of a woman in her 70s, born in 1948, and her perspective on this era.

After five years, children will have developed personalities and will have their own lives, so I decided to write a parenting diary for five years. I actually finished my first child's diary when he turned five, and I finished my second child's diary two years later.
It was like a jewel I had created with my own hands.
--- From "In the West Gate (Lee Ok-seon)"

'Victory Note' is a parenting diary written by my mother from the day she gave birth to me until my fifth birthday.
I received this amazing book from my mother one evening when I was heartbroken after failing my college entrance exams.
I can't forget the moment I received a diary with about 100 pages, the pages yellowed by the passage of 20 years, that my mother had taken out from somewhere and handed to me.
“I was going to give it to you when you turned 20, so I kept it hidden, but I thought it might help you, so I’m giving it to you now.”
--- From "Preface (Kim Ha-na)"

Around 10 o'clock, a midwife came from Mengjosanso and told me to be admitted immediately.
The time we arrived at the maternity hospital was around 10:30.
Severe labor pains came.
I looked at my mother, who was groaning and wiping away tears.
Mother, daughter, and me, who longs for a daughter, when my mother said, “It’s a daughter,” a joy as refreshing as the pain of labor that had been there before came.
--- p.23

In my mother's time, if a pregnant woman was pregnant, she would invite a midwife who lived nearby to help her give birth (this is something I personally experienced when my younger siblings were born).
Afterwards, a place called a midwife's office was created, and it is presumed that this place was developed gradually after some of the midwives obtained a midwife's license.
I went there under the leadership of my mother.
Perhaps you have been getting information that it is okay there.
It was the same with my first child, but I think people might think it was a bit reckless now.
--- p.24

Even if we throw a party because it's the 100th day, it won't have any effect on Hana, and if we're not careful, we might end up not being able to take care of Hana, so we made a promise with my dad to skip everything and just take pictures, and that day, my dad would come home from work early and we would go take pictures together, but we ended up not being able to do it.
The reason is that when you grow up, ask your dad directly.
--- p.39

My father did a lot of things that earned him the wrath of his family throughout his life.
I don't have a 100th day photo, maybe because I didn't get one "around the next holiday."
I wonder if Dad was out drinking heavily the next holiday? He was more than capable of doing that…
--- p.41

My maternal grandparents tease me and say that I'm ugly.
In my mom's eyes, I don't think I'm that ugly, but rather cute and pretty. My maternal grandmother calls me "Mogae-ya" when she sees me, and my maternal grandfather calls me "So ugly" because I'm really ugly.
Some people say that I look like a boy because my forehead and back of my neck stick out, but my mom says that I look okay.
--- p.47

At this point, I have a strange experience that most people have never had, which is thinking, 'Wow, I'm so cute...'
Of course, there are people who look at their childhood pictures and think, 'I'm so cute,' but it's so funny and cute to think of Hanaya, who is shorter than her peers, chubby, and just two years old, mumbling these words in a Busan dialect.
It seems like my mom observed what I said well, summarized it, and copied it down.
--- p.161

He has a bad temper, is stubborn, and has strong pride, so he gets beaten sometimes, but he is also very kind (if his older brother gets beaten, he complains to his mother and cries with her), is healthy (he is short but chubby), and is really, really cute.
And since he knows his place, he always knows how to be his brother's subordinate when playing with him, so he enjoys playing the role of "Boss, a bad guy has appeared" or "Doctor, a dinosaur has appeared", and when his mother asks him to run errands (such as bring a towel or bring tissues), he does it well and bravely.
One of them seems to be growing very healthy and bright.
--- p.221

One of them threw a tantrum and wanted to go home halfway through, so his mother got in trouble. In front of the beach hotel, many mothers who had come along for the picnic were standing around watching. One of them kicked his mother, yelled at her, and threw a tantrum. No matter how many people tried to appease him or threaten him, nothing worked, so his mother ran away. He still threw a tantrum for a while, but then suddenly realized what had happened and stopped crying.
So, the mother went up to Hana and said, “From now on, let’s not be like Mom and Daughter.
When I told her, "Mom doesn't need a daughter like you," one of the girls responded, "Hey! Okay, I was wrong, okay?"
That rumor was so widespread that it was a hot topic among the people in our apartment complex for several days.
--- p.243

When I think back to my childhood, amidst the background noise of screams and explosions, a very contrasting image slowly comes to mind, covering the noise and filling my vision.
It's an image of a cathedral and the sea.
(…) When I think of my childhood, the sea is always nearby.
The smell of seaweed, the sparkling waves, the sound of the waves, the sandy beach, the rippling water, the black rocks.
The open blue and the straight horizon.
An overwhelmingly vast and endlessly moving space of water.
Living in Seoul can sometimes feel stifling.
It's been a long time since I've seen the sea.
Of all the memories from my childhood, the one that brings me the most comfort is the image of the cathedral and the sea.
--- p.264~265

She got married when she was eighteen, so there is a twenty-year age difference between us.
Even if I were ten, my mother would have been thirty, so I think my youth was suffocated by the ancestral rites.
Still, thanks to such a strong mother, my orphaned nephews and nieces were able to get married and send all six of us siblings to college.
But I still don't feel like making bean sprout side dishes.
--- From "Why I Hate Buying Bean Sprouts"

My grown daughter says she was so glad her mother didn't buy her a complete set of books, and that when she started reading, she was so happy that she discovered the joy of reading through fun and interesting books.
Reading books is a pleasure, and those who know it will seek it out and read it without anyone telling them.
--- From "Is reading guidance necessary from an early age?"

When I was young, I had a lot of conflict about what I wanted to be other than what I am now.
I guess you could say that as I get older, I feel more stable.
I used to think that now was the best time of my life after I turned 60, but I've decided to think of these days as the golden age of my life.
I am the youngest I can be now, and I have more time and money than when I was younger (I don't have the same desire to buy things as when I was younger), and I also have more freedom in my heart, so I have the responsibility to be happy, so I decided to be happy now.
--- From "Older people have a responsibility to be happy"

Have you ever been on a date under a full moon? It must have been during this season.
The weather was perfect, the reeds were blooming everywhere, swaying silver, the hills stretched out into the distance, and there was a night when I just wanted to walk endlessly through that place with a guy (in today's terms, a "썸남") who was just getting closer to me, no artificial lights in sight, only the moonlight shining brightly (that's how I can describe it in other words).

--- From "Moonlight is Beautiful"