Talent Show

One more thing to report that happened while I was gone:

Sophie found a tick on her stomach and pulled it off. This was her first tick here in Africa. There are lots of ticks especially because there are cows and we have dogs that get ticks a lot.

Also, the school has a talent show every year. They open auditions by grade. Last year they chose 2 acts from each grade. This year, they are only choosing one act per grade. Auditions for 1st gr happened while I was gone. Vivian entered a watercolor painting and won the audition for first grade! The principal has asked that Vivian bring in a small collection of her artwork and we display it for the talent show. I was shocked and thrilled. She is a brilliant artist, but I had no hand in this at all. Also, she was chosen by a group of her peers.No adults were involved in the decision.

Sophie and her best friend Inbar also prepared a song for their 3rd grade auditions. They sang Jordin Sparks One Step at a Time. They came in 2nd place to an African boy who can dance just like Michael Jackson.  The French teacher, in charge of Student Council, said that their act was very good, and they will have a chance to perform it sometime, if not at the Talent Show. The only thing I did was to download the backtrack. My husband printed off the lyrics for them and they memorized them on their own. I coached them just a small bit.

I am pleased and proud at both girls' self-motivation and am glad the school encourages these types of events, outside the normal curriculum of reading, writing and arithmetic.

Vivian Love and Another Tooth Lost

I recently went on a trip to the US. I was gone for 12 days. I had to leave for the airport 10pm, well after the girls' bedtime. However, they would not go to sleep. Especially Vivian. She was insane with depression.  I kissed her goodnight and goodbye, but she was hyperventilating and could not stop crying.

"Buh-hut (gasp) Mah (gasp) meeee (gasp), I (gasp) don't (gasp) want (gasp) you  (gasp) to (gasp) gooooo!" she wailed.

"I'll be gone just a few days and besides, you are going to have so much fun with Daddy. He'll cook yummy food for you, he'll play lacrosse with you, you can do archery with him. . . " I tried to console her.

"Buh-hut (gasp) I (gasp) only (gasp) like (gasp) YOU (gasp) taking (gasp) care (gasp) of (gasp) uuusss!" she wailed on.

" You are very very tired and when you get tired, you get upset. Now I want you to lay here and calm down, take some deep breaths and close your eyes. You need your sleep because you have school tomorrow," I explained.

She asked me to lay with her. So I relented. For about 5 minutes. But the minute I tried to leave, the hyperventilating started all over again. I realized that me staying in the bed with her or not was not going to make any difference. I had to go.

She begged for one last kiss and hug. I left the room to the sound of her sobbing.

My husband said he was not looking forward to the morning. When she was a baby, and we had similar instances of her not going to sleep, we would let her cry it out. However, when she woke up, she would begin crying all over again, as if she picked up where she left off!

However, when the morning came, she got up and was cheerful as usual.

I have now been  back for almost one week. Her right eye tooth came out
at school this week when she bit a Lemon Drop candy her dad asked me to bring back from the US. She got to keep her tooth in a small  treasure box they give out at the school nurse. At 6 years old, she has now lost 7 teeth and is one tooth ahead of her sister who is getting ready to turn 9. They have both lost the bottom 4 and top front teeth, but now Vivian has lost an eye tooth.

The tooth fairy brought her pastels, a Magic School Bus book about Fall Leaves and a golden dollar coin.

Every day that I have been back, Vivian tells me how much she loves me and how happy she is that I am back. She tells me she loves having me for a mommy. She is so expressive of her love for me.

Tonight, we were doing water colors and she asked if she could listen to her CD of Bible stories.

Bad Dream

It was just about time for me to wake up when I heard some choked sobs coming from the hallway. The sobs made their way into my room.

"I had a bad dream Mommy!" she cried. It was Sophie. She was wearing only underwear, and climbed into the bed with us. My husband comforted her.

"I dreamed that I got arrested and they took me away from you and I didn't wanna be away from you!" she explained through her tears.

It's times like these when I am grateful my daughters still need me. I cherish them wanting to snuggle in bed with me.

Even though she is 8 years old and very very tall, she has only been on this earth for 8 short years. I love being her mom and am glad she still needs me.

Pole-ittan Ice Cream

You would think it is Christmas day here!  They want to wear their costumes every single day after school. And then, after donning the Wonder Woman and Bat Girl costumes, they say they are "training" and they begin sparring matches. It is rather hilarious.

Also of note, we have some Neopolitan ice cream. I don't usually buy it b/c Sophie only likes vanilla, plain. Only Viv likes chocolate and other flavors. They are not used to eating Neopolitan.  Last night, Viv says to her dad, "Daddy, can we have some Pole-ittan ice cream?"  He says, "What?"  And she says, "You know, Daddy, Pole-ittan." She opens the freezer door and proudly points to the ice cream in the freezer. 

In 1st grade, Viv has started her new unit on Celebrations. They study how communities celebrate various events, across all religions and cultures. The teacher has the classroom decorated with a christmas tree and lots of other things.

She came home with a long stemmed rose yesterday and a red envelope. She said "Ni Hao" and explained that red envelopes are how you celebrate Chinese New Year.

Today is the school's celebration of Ugandan Independence Day. This year happens to be 50 years of independence. Sophie will be performing the song "there was an old woman who swallowed a fly" with a twist. The librarian at the girls' school has written an African version called "There was an Mzee, who swallowed a fly".  They are honoring the book launch and the kids will be singing the song to celebrate.

Halloween Madness

This weekend, Sophie was invited to sleepover at her best friend's house. Best friends, in 2012, are now referred to as bee-eff-eff's by children.  It is getting a bit easier for Viv to accept the fact of Sophie being invited for sleepovers.

One thing we did, by ourselves, was get the Halloween boxes out. This caused a ton of excitement for Viv. When we moved overseas and I was deciding what to bring or not, I decided the holiday decor was a "must have" item to make the house feel like a home.

I must admit, it gets boringly blue here at the equator. Weather is pretty constant all the time, never too hot, never too cold and no seasons, but the holiday boxes help a lot in that department.

She was so excited to look through the boxes. Mummy that dances to Thriller - check.  Rock with light up "stay away" sign and evil laugh - check.  Small cauldrons and pumpkins - check.  Black apron with glow in the dark skeleton bones - check. Gorilla mask - check. And when I was back in the states last year, in November, it was the perfect time to pick up some bargain basement items at the drug stores.

I got a mirror that has the voice of a man saying "Get me out of here!" with light up face/eyes inside the mirror. It's a bit creepy but just perfect.

I also bought our costumes a year early and I'm so glad I did. I went with a Super Friends theme. Batman for daddy, and his sidekick for me (of course), with matching Wonder Woman costumes for the girls. But, in case someone did not want to match their sister, I do have a Bat Girl costume. It's all black and Viv loves it.

Depths of Compassion

9/7/12

Sophie continues to amaze me with her compassion.  When she learned that her father was not going to be home for his birthday, she said, “But MOMMY! That’s even more sad than if Daddy isn’t home for MY birthday. POOR DADDY!”

I am pretty sure I would not have said anything like that at her age.

When her sister was sick yesterday, she was so helpful. She grabbed whatever we needed; water for her to take a pill, the thermometer, etc. and announced, “Nurse Sophie to the rescue!”

Vivi came down with tonsillitis two nights ago. Her tonsil was swollen to the size of a strawberry! I never saw anything like it. She told me, upon laying down for bed, that her neck hurt.

“Well, lay a different way then,” I suggested.

“No Mommy! I can’t get comfortable. It’s when all this snot is going down my throat.”

“Do you mean your throat is hurting? Your neck is the outside, your throat is where you swallow food, on the inside,” I explained.

I looked inside her mouth and her tonsil was huge. I couldn’t even see the back of her throat. When I walked her to the medicine closet, she began whimpering and the tears started falling. She was having a great time feeling sorry for herself.

“Mommy, I tried to tell you this before,” she cried.

I gave her an ibuprofen and some sore throat spray and put her to bed. She fell asleep before the bedtime story was over.  I was glad she fell asleep so fast. 

Later in the night, she crawled into my bed, and she was the last one up the next morning. This usually never happens, so I knew she wasn’t feeling well. Another clue was that she was not hungry.

We visited the school nurse, and then headed into town to the doctor to see which antibiotic would work.  She was miserable on the ride into the doctor, and a bit better on the way home. We stopped at the grocery store on the way home, and she took great delight in showing anyone we saw her throat.

They gave her penicillin. Her tonsil is still swollen, but the school nurse is so wonderful. She is the kind of woman who I wish was my own mom. She is so loving and caring. She even called us that afternoon to find out how the doctor’s visit went. She said if Viv felt OK, she could come to school the next day, but she would make sure she took her antibiotic at lunchtime. She also suggested Viv not do PE, but instead, rest at the clinic during PE time. Viv just thrives and blooms in all the attention the nurse gives her!

International Sleepover

We have been back to school for a little over 2 weeks now. My daughters are in 3^rd and 1^st grade. We are entering the territory of separate playdates for separate daughters.  The older daughter is at the age where she is being invited for playdates without her sister. This is  completely appropriate and normal. However, my husband swears that he and his brother were best friends and never did anything without the other.

This week, Sophie, 3^rd grade, was invited to a Belgian friend’s house Friday after school for a playdate.  The exchange went something like this:

We are standing in the schoolyard after school. Parents are chatting while kids are having one last go on the playground equipment before being carted off home at the end of the day. My daughter and her friend approach me and the Belgian Mom (BM). 

Belgian Daughter (BD) to BM: Can Sofee come to ow-ah house for playdayt on frightee?

BM: Shrugs her shoulder and turns to me. “Is dat ohkee witchoo?”

I say sure, sounds great. But in my mind, I am thinking little sister has just been left out in the cold. We discuss it on the car ride home.  I really don’t even want to tell Vivi about this playdate because I know it is going to trigger an outburst.

Viv moans, squinting her eyes in pain, “Sophie’s going to Lois’s house? But not me? OH! I HATE it when Sophie gets invited to playdates. It’s NOT FAIR!”

“Well, what if we invite Leon (pronounced Lay-on) over to our house for a playdate?” I suggest.

Leon is the brother of BD. He is in Vivi’s class.

She immediately brightens. “OK Mommy.” Problem solved.

Two days later, I am chatting with BM again when BD and Sophie approach. This time they have another proposition.

BD to BM: something unintelligible in Belgian

BM to me: Lois is asking if Sofee can spent da nyte? Is dat okee?

I say sure, but I know Vivi will be crushed. Even the offer of sleeping in the bed with me can not fix the feeling of abandonment she has when her sister is invited somewhere to spend the night without her.  Suddenly, I remember about inviting the brother for  Vivi to play with. I ask BM and she says it’s OK.

Right now, all is well. Vivi barely acknowledged leaving school without Sophie. I brought her and Leon home and they are both happy. They are playing very nicely. I love the low drama factor when my daughter plays with a boy. I seem to remember having the same low drama, low fuss experience when playing with boys myself. 

They were out in the garden (this means yard in the US) and I heard them talking excitedly about pumpkins. Pumpkins grow all year here and are a main staple. We tried our hand at planting a few but so far, not so good.

I hear Vivi shout: “No Layon! Let’s show my Mom!! She been waiting FIVE WHOLE  YEARS for a PUMPKIN!”  They run inside to get me. I pretend to be surprised.

The small green pumpkin is the size of a large orange. It is hanging on a brown and withered vine. I don’t even know how it still looks so green and fresh.

“Can we carve it?” Vivi asks.

Soon Leon’s mom will come to pick him  up. I hope I can be enough for Vivi tonight. She was utterly shattered when Sophie had a Brownie sleepover at the end of last school year. I had never seen her heart so broken and it killed me.

Her moods can pass like clouds in the sky.  I never know how she is going to react. A strong reaction one day does not necessarily portend the same kind of reaction the next time. Does that mean they are growing up?

UPDATE: When BM came to pick up Leon, Vivi protested saying she would be bored. She quickly asked if Leon could spend the night with her!  Leon is VERY tiny. He is 6 but looks 4. He claims he is not scared to spend the night.

His mom said it was OK so now we have our very own sleepover guest.

UPDATE 2: All went great! Fed them dinner, there is no drama at all. Brush teeth, pj's and he climbs up into the top bunk. He is so low key. We read a story, say prayers and then he says, "I think I feel a bit scared."

Do you want me to call your mom?  He says yes.

Daddy came and picked him up. It was a stellar effort for such a little guy to try a sleepover. I told him I was proud of him and he could come back and try again anytime.

Vivi is now bathing herself so she can sleep in my bed tonight.