Archive for: December 2008

Our challenges with how to handle the local kids with an open door policy have come to a head today. We simply can’t provide enough plates, cups, and food to go around and we will have to put some boundaries on it. It’s a struggle though. How does one decide which kids to feed? Which ones are really hungry and which ones are just happy to enjoy some new foods? Do we have a first come, first served policy or try to rotate through all the kids? Should we give priority to the kids who provide more assistance? Should we make meals conditional on doing certain chores? Should we make them share dishes even though we know it may be passing around germs? These are real questions, with difficult answers, that have an immediate impact on their lives and ours. And don’t forget we can’t really communicate with them yet.

Today’s low light was definitely Ciara. She is, we hope, on the tail end of her independent two and is still looking for ways of expressing her Independence. This afternoon she clearly needed a good, long nap but would not give in. It required an hour of each of our time, as well as much screaming, pleading, crying, and patience to finally get her to sleep. I’ll let you guess which emotions were ours and which were hers. This pretty much shot the entire afternoon.

Today started with a much easier trip to school for Ariana. Nicole pulled a classic trick out of the standard parents arsenal. She offered to make Ariana a poster that included boxes for each day of this week. For every day Ariana goes to school without crying she will get a check mark. If she can get four check marks then we will take her to a pool this weekend. Check marks alone are a pretty good motivator but throw in a trip to the pool and Nik had her attention. Ariana was clearly still choking back tears as she left for class but provided no resistance. When she got home she was exited to tell us she didn’t cry, although she almost did once. We’re proud of her and hope she can keep it up for the rest of the week.

It was an early start today as the kids woke up at 6:30am. This didn’t help Ariana’s confidence for school, and we really struggled to get (force) her to go today. It really tears our heart out to see her stuggling so much. She let out a horrific scream as her teacher grabbed her and we walked away. Fortunately, from what we’ve heard, she does fine once we’re gone. If this wasn’t similar behaviour, albiet a little more extreme, than back in Calgary we would be a lot more worried. For now though we are choking back our own tears and trying to be positive and encouraging for her.

Today started with church at 9am, for which we went at 9:20 and were just a bit early. Between the kids and the language barrier we really didn’t get anything out of the service. It was still nice to meet a couple people. One fellow who spoke excellent English stopped by our place afterwards to introduce himself.

Today’s highlight was definitely taking the kids to a local park, open on weekends only.

Today, with the help of our TEARS support team, we got a new washing machine! Finally, some clean clothes.

Here are my tips for showering with cold water:

Not too much on the agenda today. Ariana’s school, and a small dinner crisis.

I should share with you a bit about how the others are doing, as I’ve been a little preoccupied with my own ailments.