Right now there are 11 kids downstairs polishing off a bowl of microwave popcorn (thank you, Marji) and watching some classic Tom & Jerry, in Chinese. Even on Friday nights the tutor is usually here hammering away at the never-ending homework so having everyone free for a movie is a nice change. The children's Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) vacation started today, or maybe it's tomorrow. Keeping up with the school schedule is a job in itself. The two kindergartners definitely finished today and are off for two weeks. The school kids had exams this week so had a staggered schedule and Thursday and Friday off while tests were graded. Tomorrow (yes, Saturday) they will go to school to get their grades and pick up their books for the next term. We are not quite sure whether it is a full day or half day. Then they will be off until February 12 (I think). However, the tutor will keep them studying throughout the holiday. I negotiated (I think) that she will come one day and be off two. If the children do their assignments and do well, they will not have to sit with the tutor over the break. If they don't do their assignments or are having trouble, they can work with her on the days that she comes. Well, that's the plan I put together and hopefully communicated. But you never know. I guess we'll find out when she comes to the house.
So what all happened this week?
My little tiny baby had to be hospitalized again for pneumonia (third time this winter). She did so well gaining weight here and getting lots of attention. But with 8 children going to school and bringing back all kinds of germs, it's very hard to keep everyone healthy all the time. She is just too fragile for this type of home, so reluctantly I agreed that she should go to a more controlled environment. I know it's for the best, but I miss her very much.
My 4yo little girl with MD has had an ongoing dental problem. This week I went with her to the dentist. Oy vey! It reminded me of when I was a kid going to the dentist. Don't get me wrong it was all very clean and professional, and the dentist seemed very kind and competent. But NO pain management at all, for several abscessed teeth. Ouch ouch ouch, poor kid. I thought I was so good for giving her some Panadol (kind of like Tylenol) before she went. Little did I realize that she needed something a lot stronger. She has to go back on Monday, hopefully so they can fill the cavities, and I have asked our staff to find out how to get a little stronger pain reliever for her.
Language continues to come in fits and starts. We have gotten several of the common idioms down, but real language seems so far out of my grasp. Imagine my surprise earlier this week when Kristen was singing in the stairwell, and definitely not in English. I thought it could be Chinese or maybe a little made up song. Then William joined in with words that sounded about the same, so unless he lives in her imaginary world, it was Chinese!
Homeschooling. eeee Don't tell Dr. Johnson (inside joke for those living in Palm Beach County), but that has not been as consistent as I would like. Marissa and Lindsay have been working on math, Chinese history and science. Literature hasn't gotten off the ground too well yet. I really enjoy the homeschooling, it just seems like life, in the form of crying babies, shopping trips, email, official visits and who knows what else, has a way of interfering. I have great plans to get back on track while the girls are home on their Spring festival. Hmmm, we'll see.
Shopping. I had a great time shopping with my four elementary school kids this week. They are two boys, 13 and 8, and two girls, 10 and 11. Traditionally each child gets a new outfit for Spring festival. We had bought coats and jeans last week, but the four of them also needed new shoes. At the time we shopped for the other things I was given a piece of paper with the tracing of each child's foot (just one foot each). That was my *size chart* for shoe shopping! Luckily we ran out of time and the shoes were not purchased. I just could NOT imagine going shoe shopping without the kids. So since they had yesterday off of school, we all went to the market together. The clothes market is an open market with several lanes, each one lined with open shops. Prices are all negotiated. It went great, was a lot of fun and everyone got just what they wanted. That doesn't even happen when I just go shoe shopping for myself! Here's a photo of the four pairs of sneakers that we bought. Now guess how much I spent...
160Y...$23.38
Sorry for the long post. I have more news but I'll save it for another entry.
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