Being a mom to 18 kids certainly has its rewards...you can always find at least one kid who is happy and smiling at you. But just so you don't think it's all fun and games, here is a bit of what has been going on lately. Well, today.
1) One child skyped with his foreign sponsors at 8:30 am. Now this child is 4 and a boy, so getting him to sit still for 2 minutes can be a challenge, just imagine what it takes to have him be reasonably social with people he doesn't know for 10 minutes. BUT...a great success (at least I think so). He said hello, sang a couple of songs and was generally cooperative throughout. I attribute much of that to advance prep...we did a run through last night skyping to Jenny Nai-Nai in Eagles Wings 3 and practiced a song with the help of our translator, Ying Na.
2) My 11 year old girl does not want to take a shower. Showers are not quite as, um, regular, here as at home, but once a week is pretty typical. Sometimes it is no problem at all to get the kids to take showers, sometimes they resist. Like most kids. What's different is this kid is Stubborn (and the capital S is intentional!), so when she won't comply I get to step in. The more you nag her the less likely she is to do what you want. My approach is to give her choices, good ones and not so good ones and let her make the decision. Usually she will come around if left to make her own decision. Getting the ayis to leave her alone to make the choice is often a bigger challenge than the 11 year old.
Oops, I hear rumblings downstairs so I better go head off a full-blown tantrum (if that's possible). I just love weekends!
Ok, no problem.
3) One of the girls struggles with getting her homework done due to CP. She cries and cries because she is always the last to finish. Today is no exception. Somehow the tutor thinks the best way to help her is to dictate the answers and have her (the child) write them down. I tend to think that it would be better for the child to dictate the answers and have someone else write them down. Silly me. I don't know if I will win this battle before I leave.
4) Four-year old boy (mentioned above) does not think that naptime applies to him. I hear him up again. Back to bed!!
I think those have been the major things for today...so far, it's just lunch time.
1 comment:
Hi Donna,
Just got to catch up on your blog. I am thrilled that you got to go on the trip. I wasn't going to try to go to Abbey's orphanage this year, but in the last few months I've decided to try, in case there is anything in her file that would mean something to her. Thank you for sharing about all that. I loved hearing about the little girl you had the party for that is starting school. She may have a better life than many rich, long-lived people we know, just because of her attitude and gratefulness. What a good message and reminder.
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