*I have been trying to teach the girls a little bit about the July 4th holiday. It is a difficult concept for young minds to grasp. I bought them little star spangled outfits and let them wear them to daycare today. Then one of the kid's mom came with cupcakes decorated red/white/blue and they all sang 'happy birthday 4th of July' so they are starting to get the idea. I can't wait to see them watch fireworks for the first time!
*They have 'American' names that blend with their Haitian names. Their Haitian names now serve as their middle names. I eased into this transition. In the beginning I did not know if we would get there or not, everything was so overwhelming to them, this was just one more thing. But at daycare, their American names are used and they like that. We sometimes fall back to their Haitian names at home out of comfort and habit, but mostly we just use the new names and everyone is comfortable with that. Except Miss Lady told Princess that she had to call her by her Haitian name, she was not allowed to call her A_ _ at home. Not sure what that is all about, and it does not matter because that lasted for one day, and Princess is back to calling her A _ _ just like they do at school.
*I hope I'm not scaring people when I write about some of the behavioral issues that are going on with the girls especially now that they are getting more comfortable at home. It's annoying, but it's all manageable. Yesterday Little Miss Lady wanted to do a less bratty, but still pouty version of getting ready for school. I think this is how God keeps me close to Him because it's always at this point I literally pray for patience. (And it helps, alot) When we got to the teeth brushing point tho, and she was trying to drag her heels, and I took her toothbrush away from her and told her cheerfully that I was going to brush her teeth for her (again) she shaped up, grabbed the tooth brush back from me and said she would do it herself. She was mad and she cried, but she got it done and that was the end of it.
*Every afternoon when I go to pick them up, Princess Pistolero is filthy from rolling around on the play ground, and Miss Lady has a bunch of drawing/letterings she has done and wants to bring home. All this week she has had some version of everybody she loves. Today, it was just "I love UUUUU" over and over again. The other day (and this is not unusual) she named everyone in the family, including 'Papa'. That would be my ex-husband. They are totally enthralled with him. Having once felt the same, I'm unsure of how to handle this, so I just let them be enthralled with him and he enjoys it. They know we're not married anymore, and I guess they know he has another wife and 2 little girls, whom they conveniently ignore whenever we are over there picking up LG. I'll keep you posted on how this all plays out. They have not called him Papa to his face yet but I know it's coming....
*They love "Telenovelas" (Mexican soap operas) almost as much as they love cartoons. When they get tired of cartoons, this is what they naturally gravitate towards. I notice that culturally, these soaps reflect more of what they are accustomed to. They definitely gravitate towards that Latin American feel. That's just what we need, to be speaking 3 languages in this house, as if we don't have enough already going on! My favorite is "Guarded By An Angel". At least, I'm pretty sure that is the English translation. See, it's not hard to get sucked into these things.
That's it for now. Hopefully I will have some fun holiday photos in a few days!
5 comments:
I totally appreciate your being candid about the girls. As we are preparing to bring a five year old home in a few months it is best to know about the reality rather than the fantasy.
Can't wait to see pictures of them in their red, white, and blue, and to see the looks on their faces when the fireworks light up the sky!
Hey Marta, don't feel wierd about talking about behavioral isues. i am a FIRM believer that people adopting, who have never been thru it, know the realities. it is not all butterflies and laughs, like you said. it's all part of life, though, and worth sharing :)
happy 4th to you georgia peaches!!!
steph "the furlough queen"
My two boys love to watch info-mercials.....go figure?
I too am more than happy to be reading the good with the bad. I like seeing the real picture, if we didn't have those of you ahead of us doing that us soon to be "newby's" would think we were really doing something wrong!! By the way I like their American names, they are very pretty. MUCH discussion in our house about keeping Morelson's name, we went so back and forth with it. We have decided to keep it. I hope it was the right decision for him!
Enjoy that very first 4th of July and can't wait to see a pic in their festive wear!
Thanks Marta,
Lisa
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