Mr. Bean, the whole bean! Netflix has these videos on demand, and the kids at Mariupol used to watch Mr. Bean! No language skills required to laugh at the funny humor! Karina and Papa are laughing their heads off!
So, here's to our weekend-holiday celebration for tonight:
* a bowl of cheese puffs
* milk in a plastic wine glass
* Mr. Bean on the TV
* Robert and Big Kitty sitting next to the 3 of us
Lots of Fun!
Oh, and P.S. Karina slept with ALL the dogs last night. Needless to say, she didn't sleep. But, hat's off to her for being adventurous! (She was licked to the bone, and Twister cuddled way too close, she said.)
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Favorite Tunes
For those with teenagers from Ukraine, here is some of the music our tween says is "terrrrrific!"
(We also added in a few of her favorite America tunes as of this week).
Anything by Dema Belan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO0kH8hf_wc
Anything by Ranetki: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uY-goxZ-tc
Anything by Potap & Nastia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pC5Pb68Od0
Anything by Max Barskih: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPSU8aa2yNo
Anything by MaxSym: http://www.youtube.com/user/maksim?blend=1&ob=5
Katy Perry - ET
Train - Soul Sister
Black-eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow
Jennifer Lopez - Hit the Floor (kinda, so so )
And another popular America song that we do not know the name of it but plays on the radio a lot.
The thing that I worry about as a parent is, what these videos teach girls about relationships with men: too much drama, tragedy, and violence (throwing and breaking things). In Ukraine, girls are often sex-pistols and guys have lots of machismo. Reversing these beliefs and creating an understanding of loving, equal partnerships between men and women and how men and women communicate attraction to each other is challenging. There is too much "girl-chasing/boy-chasing" or trolling-type of behaviors that kids pick up on, and as a parent, that bothers me. Just a personal thought.
Anyway, tunes in one's native language helps to ease the over-Englished-world that sometimes gets our kids down until they can navigate English better.
(We also added in a few of her favorite America tunes as of this week).
Anything by Dema Belan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO0kH8hf_wc
Anything by Ranetki: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uY-goxZ-tc
Anything by Potap & Nastia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pC5Pb68Od0
Anything by Max Barskih: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPSU8aa2yNo
Anything by MaxSym: http://www.youtube.com/user/maksim?blend=1&ob=5
Katy Perry - ET
Train - Soul Sister
Black-eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow
Jennifer Lopez - Hit the Floor (kinda, so so )
And another popular America song that we do not know the name of it but plays on the radio a lot.
The thing that I worry about as a parent is, what these videos teach girls about relationships with men: too much drama, tragedy, and violence (throwing and breaking things). In Ukraine, girls are often sex-pistols and guys have lots of machismo. Reversing these beliefs and creating an understanding of loving, equal partnerships between men and women and how men and women communicate attraction to each other is challenging. There is too much "girl-chasing/boy-chasing" or trolling-type of behaviors that kids pick up on, and as a parent, that bothers me. Just a personal thought.
Anyway, tunes in one's native language helps to ease the over-Englished-world that sometimes gets our kids down until they can navigate English better.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Meeting in the Middle
Today is the anniversary of our 4th week in America, post-Ukraine. We have learned a lot about each other this past month. Values, feelings, communicating, expectations, and most of all respecting each other and as such, meeting in the middle. We are thankful for Liliya, our friend, who is available to us night and day for those deeper conversations, and conflict situations. She handles us with grace and love. Her translation abilities are very much welcomed. Today, we have had a really good day. Karina pointed out that we did not approve of her making faces at America foods, yet when we let her cook her own breakfast (scrambled eggs) we made faces (as they were raw with only a slight bit of white). So, tonight, we agreed that we were wrong to do that and she cooked dinner for the 3 of us and we ate all of our eggs, raw and runny (even the whites were runny) with nice faces and smiles of yummy-ness! We met in the middle. We needed a break from Hannah Montana's album and so we introduced Karina to youtube and how to search for Russian music. This was fabulous! She found her favorite tunes and sang along for hours! We bought her favorite album in itunes and it is our dinner music. If she has to listen to NPR, then we can listen to Ranetki. We met in the middle. It is about choice, respect, appreciation of variety, and bravery in trying new things with grace and openness. It is not always easy, but it is the essence of our relationship and that is good for where we are and how we have been doing at this point. Karina is growing closer to the pets, too. She likes to hold big kitty, and wishes she could sleep with all the dogs. We promised we'd let her try this - on a non-school night, in dogland on the futon That should be a trip! 15 dogs who all like to lick and cuddle close! Hey, what is memorial weekend for, if not to celebrate and love being with pets and people?! (Oh no, Papa is helping crazy dog, Katie, to dance and sing in the microphone! Time for lots of laughs!)
Friday, May 20, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
3 week anniversary
Today, is our 3rd week in America (post-Ukraine). Today was Karina's first day at school by herself! She had a long day at school (8:15 - 2:30). Today, is a drizzzly, yet wonderful day as each of us had time to ourselves to get things done. All is well. We are thrilled beyond belief and we are very blessed and lucky. Hooray!
Monday, May 16, 2011
Giving Thanks
Giving Thanks is important. Every Sunday night, we have a family meeting. Last night, we each shared what we liked best about the past week, and what we didn't like about the past week, and then we reviewed our family expectations list and talked about which item was not working. That is, of all the expectations, which one was being met the least. It was the bedtime item. So, we talked about it, decided if we should change it or not, and Karina decided not to change it, and we learned why it wasn't working and now we can change what we do to make it easier to be met. Terrrrrific!!! We give thanks for having the time to sit as a family and communicate about being a family. Each person gets a vote on things and each gets to share their rationale and ideas for what our family is and isn't. The model of democracy is something we are thankful for, as is respect for each other.
We are thankful that today is Karina's first day of ESL at the Easterly Parkway public school. We chose this school because of Dr. Esber, her ESL teacher. Karina loves Dr. Esber and is motivated to please Dr. Esber. We visited her classroom last week as a family and the kids liked Karina and she liked them. When given the option to help in the garden or work on school, she chose to work on school, and spent about 3 hours with Papa doing her lesson for Dr. Esber! That is something we are all thankful for: Dr. Esber!!
Last night, Karina was so hyper because today is her first day of school. We have it posted on the family bulletin board and she reviewed the week and made sure she knew which days and which times she was to be at school this week (tomorrow there is no school, because the morning will be spent at the dentist). I remember the night before the first day of school, and how I spent a long time picking out my clothes and getting organized and feeling jittery! Karina the same! She chose her favorite Hannah Montana outfit that Aunt Brenda gave her, packed her school work in her Hannah backpack from Aunt Brenda, and looked just like Hannah this morning as she and Papa said Paka and jumped in the car to leave! Aunt Brenda knows kids!! She chose her favorite pens and pencils out of her desk in the office and packed those as well as her orange crush drink left over in the fridge. She even asked if Mama would put make-up on her and of course, remembering how I wanted the same as a kid, decided why not. So I made her eyes and cheeks and lips up lightly and she was thrilled! She wanted Papa to notice (and he needed a few code-winks to get it), then he said "Wow - you look gorgeous!" We are thankful for a daughter who is excited about school, who likes to look nice and cares about her appearance. Her values on which is more important - school or looks - will develop as we set a good example. One thing about Karina is that she is very in tuned to our behaviors and mimics them.
We are thankful for bubble baths, dogs & cats & rabbits (domestic and wild in our yard), the birds, good friends, local kids who speak Russian and English, Dema's birthday party (which got big thanks at the family meeting and was a real hit!), making cookies (but not Papa eating the last of the cookies - that got a thumbs down at the family meeting), looking for knee high socks, a good medical report on her heart, nice & caring doctors who have a great bedside manner with Karina, loving friends who are crazy enough to play Wii Dance with our family (that got 3 thumbs up last night, by the way!), and for google translator who helped us cope with and discuss a melt down (which we stayed up to communicate about and share feelings honestly until past 10pm, because many feelings were hurt). We are also thankful for Tsentr Opiky (her home in Mariupol) who helped us to confirm what her real birthday is this morning. She wanted it to be in July, but it is in June. That's OK, we'll let her have 2 birthdays! (On her birthday, she wants to ride crazy mouse at DelGrosso's amusement park 13 times, so now she can ride it a total of 26 times!)
Hopefully, many of her friends will be in America by then. She talks about them many times a day. Much love and giving thanks for a wonderful day ahead. I look forward to hearing her stories about school and watching Papa get his teeth cleaned this afternoon (he is setting an example for her tomorrow).
We are thankful that today is Karina's first day of ESL at the Easterly Parkway public school. We chose this school because of Dr. Esber, her ESL teacher. Karina loves Dr. Esber and is motivated to please Dr. Esber. We visited her classroom last week as a family and the kids liked Karina and she liked them. When given the option to help in the garden or work on school, she chose to work on school, and spent about 3 hours with Papa doing her lesson for Dr. Esber! That is something we are all thankful for: Dr. Esber!!
Last night, Karina was so hyper because today is her first day of school. We have it posted on the family bulletin board and she reviewed the week and made sure she knew which days and which times she was to be at school this week (tomorrow there is no school, because the morning will be spent at the dentist). I remember the night before the first day of school, and how I spent a long time picking out my clothes and getting organized and feeling jittery! Karina the same! She chose her favorite Hannah Montana outfit that Aunt Brenda gave her, packed her school work in her Hannah backpack from Aunt Brenda, and looked just like Hannah this morning as she and Papa said Paka and jumped in the car to leave! Aunt Brenda knows kids!! She chose her favorite pens and pencils out of her desk in the office and packed those as well as her orange crush drink left over in the fridge. She even asked if Mama would put make-up on her and of course, remembering how I wanted the same as a kid, decided why not. So I made her eyes and cheeks and lips up lightly and she was thrilled! She wanted Papa to notice (and he needed a few code-winks to get it), then he said "Wow - you look gorgeous!" We are thankful for a daughter who is excited about school, who likes to look nice and cares about her appearance. Her values on which is more important - school or looks - will develop as we set a good example. One thing about Karina is that she is very in tuned to our behaviors and mimics them.
We are thankful for bubble baths, dogs & cats & rabbits (domestic and wild in our yard), the birds, good friends, local kids who speak Russian and English, Dema's birthday party (which got big thanks at the family meeting and was a real hit!), making cookies (but not Papa eating the last of the cookies - that got a thumbs down at the family meeting), looking for knee high socks, a good medical report on her heart, nice & caring doctors who have a great bedside manner with Karina, loving friends who are crazy enough to play Wii Dance with our family (that got 3 thumbs up last night, by the way!), and for google translator who helped us cope with and discuss a melt down (which we stayed up to communicate about and share feelings honestly until past 10pm, because many feelings were hurt). We are also thankful for Tsentr Opiky (her home in Mariupol) who helped us to confirm what her real birthday is this morning. She wanted it to be in July, but it is in June. That's OK, we'll let her have 2 birthdays! (On her birthday, she wants to ride crazy mouse at DelGrosso's amusement park 13 times, so now she can ride it a total of 26 times!)
Hopefully, many of her friends will be in America by then. She talks about them many times a day. Much love and giving thanks for a wonderful day ahead. I look forward to hearing her stories about school and watching Papa get his teeth cleaned this afternoon (he is setting an example for her tomorrow).
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Family Values
We are going a bit crazy here at the moment. The language issues are very, very frustrating. Karina so wants to really talk with us, and we with her, and the basic communication is not cutting it. Our honeymoon is moving into stage 2 - deeper relationships building and I welcome that. I just wish it were easier. She is really frustrated. She has so much she wants to say, and she needs us to understand her and listen to her. The problem arises in that she is slow at typing (computers are new to her) so she cannot say a lot, and her spelling is not perfect, so many words do not translate. Please send your positive thoughts if you are reading. We will feel your love and for Karina's sake, she needs the support and good karma, if you will.
Here are our family values and expectations at the moment. This is the basis of who we are right now in our family. We thought other families may be able to benefit if they are in process of deciding on the same. These are easier said than overtly taught. The best way to teach them, is simply by example, which means we have to be really, really sensitive to how we are acting. That is difficult when emotions are running higher than typical.
Family Values – Семейные ценности
Honesty честность
Respect уважение
Responsibility ответственность
Accountability подотчетности
Fairness справедливость
Compassion сострадание
Family Expectations:
1. Always treat each other with kindness and respect, which means to listen thoughtfully to each other and work through conflicts with a desire to do what is best for the whole family, not just one person.
1. Всегда относиться друг к другу с добротой и уважением, что означает прислушиваться задумчиво друг к другу и работать через конфликты с желанием сделать то, что является лучшим для всей семьи, а не только одного человека.
2. Keep your room tidy, make your bed every morning and return your things to your room after use; don’t leave your things lying around.
2. Храните ваши комнаты аккуратные, сделать вашу постель каждое утро и вернуть свои вещи в номер после использования; не оставляйте свои вещи лежащие вокруг.
3. If you make a mess, clean it up immediately. Our home belongs to all of us, and we all respect and care for our home and family.
3. Если вы делаете беспорядок, очистить его немедленно. Наш дом принадлежит всем нам, и мы все уважение и внимание к нашим домом и семьей.
4. Everyone should turn off lights, water, radio, television when not using them. We conserve electricity and water because it is good for the environment.
4. Каждый должен выключить свет, вода, радио, телевидение, когда их не используете. Мы экономии электроэнергии и воды, потому что это хорошо для окружающей среды.
5. Eat and drink only in the kitchen or dining room. No drink or food is allowed where there is carpet.
5. Ешьте и пейте только в кухне или столовой. Нет питья или еды допускается, где есть ковер.
6. Each family member should wash his or her hands before and after eating, after using the bathroom, and when we each come inside after playing outdoors.
6. Каждый член семьи должен мыть его или ее руки до и после еды, после посещения туалета, и когда каждый из нас войти внутрь после игры на свежем воздухе.
7. Each person is responsible for their daily chores.
7. Каждый человек несет ответственность за их повседневной работой.
8. Quiet time starts at 9pm Sunday through Thursday.
8. Тихо время начинается в 9 вечера воскресенья по четверг.
9 When in doubt, ALWAYS ask permission from Mama or Papa.
9. Если вы сомневаетесь, всегда спрашивайте разрешения от мамы или папы.
Here are our family values and expectations at the moment. This is the basis of who we are right now in our family. We thought other families may be able to benefit if they are in process of deciding on the same. These are easier said than overtly taught. The best way to teach them, is simply by example, which means we have to be really, really sensitive to how we are acting. That is difficult when emotions are running higher than typical.
Family Values – Семейные ценности
Honesty честность
Respect уважение
Responsibility ответственность
Accountability подотчетности
Fairness справедливость
Compassion сострадание
Family Expectations:
1. Always treat each other with kindness and respect, which means to listen thoughtfully to each other and work through conflicts with a desire to do what is best for the whole family, not just one person.
1. Всегда относиться друг к другу с добротой и уважением, что означает прислушиваться задумчиво друг к другу и работать через конфликты с желанием сделать то, что является лучшим для всей семьи, а не только одного человека.
2. Keep your room tidy, make your bed every morning and return your things to your room after use; don’t leave your things lying around.
2. Храните ваши комнаты аккуратные, сделать вашу постель каждое утро и вернуть свои вещи в номер после использования; не оставляйте свои вещи лежащие вокруг.
3. If you make a mess, clean it up immediately. Our home belongs to all of us, and we all respect and care for our home and family.
3. Если вы делаете беспорядок, очистить его немедленно. Наш дом принадлежит всем нам, и мы все уважение и внимание к нашим домом и семьей.
4. Everyone should turn off lights, water, radio, television when not using them. We conserve electricity and water because it is good for the environment.
4. Каждый должен выключить свет, вода, радио, телевидение, когда их не используете. Мы экономии электроэнергии и воды, потому что это хорошо для окружающей среды.
5. Eat and drink only in the kitchen or dining room. No drink or food is allowed where there is carpet.
5. Ешьте и пейте только в кухне или столовой. Нет питья или еды допускается, где есть ковер.
6. Each family member should wash his or her hands before and after eating, after using the bathroom, and when we each come inside after playing outdoors.
6. Каждый член семьи должен мыть его или ее руки до и после еды, после посещения туалета, и когда каждый из нас войти внутрь после игры на свежем воздухе.
7. Each person is responsible for their daily chores.
7. Каждый человек несет ответственность за их повседневной работой.
8. Quiet time starts at 9pm Sunday through Thursday.
8. Тихо время начинается в 9 вечера воскресенья по четверг.
9 When in doubt, ALWAYS ask permission from Mama or Papa.
9. Если вы сомневаетесь, всегда спрашивайте разрешения от мамы или папы.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Mother's Day!
It was my first Mother's Day and it was TERRRRIFIC!! We have a terrific family! It is really fun to be a mom.
Stuart and Karina woke up early and told me to stay in bed. They fixed breakfast and Karina made me a card by hand, translated herself! Beautiful! They gave Mama a pizza stone and a DVD player for Karina to watch her movies in the red room. We then worked in the yard trimming the Russian sage, and Karina took two wheelbarrow loads of twigs to the compost pile. We packed a picnic lunch in the basket and had a picnic in the park for 3 hours playing on the swings and hide and seek. The day ended with our first family meeting. In the meeting we went over family values and expectations. We meet as a family every Sunday night. This gives us time to talk about what is working and not working as a family and what we want to start, stop and continue doing as a family. We post what we talked about on the family bulletin board. We topped off the night with a Mama-daughter extra-bubbly bubble bath in the whirlpool tub! Whew! The bubbles were overflowing! We buried ourselves in bubbles and it took two tub-fulls of water to de-bubble and rinse off! We had our seltzer water in plastic wine glasses and included candles this time. Why not? Life is short!
Mama, Karina, Robert (the beagle) and Big-Kitty all slept together last night. She needed extra cuddles due to an emotional day off and on yesterday. Being a family is a big deal for her. It was good to sleep together. Plus, Papa is still sick, so he was appreciative of the space.
Today, we had a wonderful tour of the charter school, which is small and creative and has 5th and 6th grade together (nice for us!). There were several kids at the school who spoke Russian (bi-lingual) an they talked to her. The kids were doing some interesting projects. It was a nice place to be. We also had a productive visit to the dentist and did a lot of x-rays. Her teeth are in better shape than they appear because the bad teeth are baby teeth still. Hopefully they will fall out. Not all baby teeth fall out, so we are crossing out fingers! The cosmetic issues can be fixed fairly easily.
Mama got a chance to work on volunteer work when we got home, and Papa took Karina to the park later today where she met some girls who befriended her. It is great to see her reaching out.
We have had our first sets of conflicts and mini-melt-downs. First, it was mama and Karina over short-shorts. Papa left the room. The shorts were a mis-understanding. She was wanting to wear them inside them change again before going out in public and Mama thought she was going to wear them out in public. The second conflict is over handwriting and the letter "r" and we will work on handwriting. The joys of home schooling for the moment! Anyway, thank goodness for Google translator and the Russian-English online dictionary!
So far so good! Off to cook dinner... and work on our English goal for the week - 24 words (say it, spell it, write it) - and that means in Russian for us as well as in English for her.
Stuart and Karina woke up early and told me to stay in bed. They fixed breakfast and Karina made me a card by hand, translated herself! Beautiful! They gave Mama a pizza stone and a DVD player for Karina to watch her movies in the red room. We then worked in the yard trimming the Russian sage, and Karina took two wheelbarrow loads of twigs to the compost pile. We packed a picnic lunch in the basket and had a picnic in the park for 3 hours playing on the swings and hide and seek. The day ended with our first family meeting. In the meeting we went over family values and expectations. We meet as a family every Sunday night. This gives us time to talk about what is working and not working as a family and what we want to start, stop and continue doing as a family. We post what we talked about on the family bulletin board. We topped off the night with a Mama-daughter extra-bubbly bubble bath in the whirlpool tub! Whew! The bubbles were overflowing! We buried ourselves in bubbles and it took two tub-fulls of water to de-bubble and rinse off! We had our seltzer water in plastic wine glasses and included candles this time. Why not? Life is short!
Mama, Karina, Robert (the beagle) and Big-Kitty all slept together last night. She needed extra cuddles due to an emotional day off and on yesterday. Being a family is a big deal for her. It was good to sleep together. Plus, Papa is still sick, so he was appreciative of the space.
Today, we had a wonderful tour of the charter school, which is small and creative and has 5th and 6th grade together (nice for us!). There were several kids at the school who spoke Russian (bi-lingual) an they talked to her. The kids were doing some interesting projects. It was a nice place to be. We also had a productive visit to the dentist and did a lot of x-rays. Her teeth are in better shape than they appear because the bad teeth are baby teeth still. Hopefully they will fall out. Not all baby teeth fall out, so we are crossing out fingers! The cosmetic issues can be fixed fairly easily.
Mama got a chance to work on volunteer work when we got home, and Papa took Karina to the park later today where she met some girls who befriended her. It is great to see her reaching out.
We have had our first sets of conflicts and mini-melt-downs. First, it was mama and Karina over short-shorts. Papa left the room. The shorts were a mis-understanding. She was wanting to wear them inside them change again before going out in public and Mama thought she was going to wear them out in public. The second conflict is over handwriting and the letter "r" and we will work on handwriting. The joys of home schooling for the moment! Anyway, thank goodness for Google translator and the Russian-English online dictionary!
So far so good! Off to cook dinner... and work on our English goal for the week - 24 words (say it, spell it, write it) - and that means in Russian for us as well as in English for her.
WOW!
Talking with Little Kitty (Cally).
Made by two Chefs - Karina and Papa! Mother's Day breakfast!
Thank You!!!!!
For Mama - she got up at 6AM with Papa to do this!
Who loves her Papa?!?
Friday, May 6, 2011
Swings, Airplanes, Resources...
... and the joy of Dogs!
We have been a family of 3 in America one week as of last night. Wow! So many wonderful things have happened, it is hard to share them all. Papa put a swing up in the garage, so that Karina can swing rain or shine, anytime. She can swing between the cars. The outdoor swingset will be up in about a month. We got one from craigslist and have to reassemble it. Thank you to friends for taking it apart and transporting it to our house while we were in Ukraine! Swinging is the #1 way for dealing with stress here.
An airplane (самолет) is a prize for us. Karina loves airplanes!! She likes to go for walks with Mama in the dog's field or in the neighborhood and count all of the planes overhead (and their trails). Thanks to our good friend, John, who gave us the idea - we had a picnic lunch at the airport yesterday and sat where the planes come in to land. It was a thrill to see them circle and land! She had a blast!
And resources - whew! As a family of 2, we used the dishwasher about once every 4-5 days, used the washer and dryer once a week, and made very little trash. However, now we use the dishwasher every day, I have done 8 loads of laundry since being home, and we make a lot more trash, primarily because we cook and eat almost every meal (and 3 a day at that) at home. Resources are amazingly used up! That is what they are there for. I can watch her eat a melted ice cream sandwich with drips and chocolate around her lips and not cringe - we will clean it when she's finished and the joy is to see her appreciate the moment. Had I been decades younger, when I was more uptight, I probably would have been all over her. Same with kale last night. Papa insisted that she eat one spoonful of cooked kale with garlic sauce. That is the rule, one bite of everything served. Well, kids + kale, no matter where they are from, is never a super-good combo. She resisted and stalled and made faces, etc. Having recently finished Alfie Kohn's book, Punished by Rewards, there was no link to desserts if the kale was eaten or no dessert if not eaten, we simply sat there. I told her "Mama is not raising a baby. She is raising you to be a good, successful adult." Then I forced myself to eat the leftover cold cooked kale sitting in the bowl left over from our dinner. If I make her do it, I can do it too. There she went - it was down, we made fun of her for not dying, and acted like it should have killed her, she smiled and then, we were off to clean the basement (dogland). She was a super help to us, and it is a real treasure to have Karina here! Dogland smells 4 million times better now, and it actually looks like a room where humans can visit! Having 15 dogs is fun, and Karina is growing closer to them all, especially Robert.
She loves Robert! Robert sleeps with her in her bed at night and she reads Russian books to him. He loves it! Robert had popcorn with the 3 of us last night after the basement was done. You can see Robert and his friends here: http://www.aeechols.net/
There is so much going on, and it is simply remarkable how she makes us better people for being part of our lives! What a blessing and a gift!
We have been a family of 3 in America one week as of last night. Wow! So many wonderful things have happened, it is hard to share them all. Papa put a swing up in the garage, so that Karina can swing rain or shine, anytime. She can swing between the cars. The outdoor swingset will be up in about a month. We got one from craigslist and have to reassemble it. Thank you to friends for taking it apart and transporting it to our house while we were in Ukraine! Swinging is the #1 way for dealing with stress here.
An airplane (самолет) is a prize for us. Karina loves airplanes!! She likes to go for walks with Mama in the dog's field or in the neighborhood and count all of the planes overhead (and their trails). Thanks to our good friend, John, who gave us the idea - we had a picnic lunch at the airport yesterday and sat where the planes come in to land. It was a thrill to see them circle and land! She had a blast!
And resources - whew! As a family of 2, we used the dishwasher about once every 4-5 days, used the washer and dryer once a week, and made very little trash. However, now we use the dishwasher every day, I have done 8 loads of laundry since being home, and we make a lot more trash, primarily because we cook and eat almost every meal (and 3 a day at that) at home. Resources are amazingly used up! That is what they are there for. I can watch her eat a melted ice cream sandwich with drips and chocolate around her lips and not cringe - we will clean it when she's finished and the joy is to see her appreciate the moment. Had I been decades younger, when I was more uptight, I probably would have been all over her. Same with kale last night. Papa insisted that she eat one spoonful of cooked kale with garlic sauce. That is the rule, one bite of everything served. Well, kids + kale, no matter where they are from, is never a super-good combo. She resisted and stalled and made faces, etc. Having recently finished Alfie Kohn's book, Punished by Rewards, there was no link to desserts if the kale was eaten or no dessert if not eaten, we simply sat there. I told her "Mama is not raising a baby. She is raising you to be a good, successful adult." Then I forced myself to eat the leftover cold cooked kale sitting in the bowl left over from our dinner. If I make her do it, I can do it too. There she went - it was down, we made fun of her for not dying, and acted like it should have killed her, she smiled and then, we were off to clean the basement (dogland). She was a super help to us, and it is a real treasure to have Karina here! Dogland smells 4 million times better now, and it actually looks like a room where humans can visit! Having 15 dogs is fun, and Karina is growing closer to them all, especially Robert.
She loves Robert! Robert sleeps with her in her bed at night and she reads Russian books to him. He loves it! Robert had popcorn with the 3 of us last night after the basement was done. You can see Robert and his friends here: http://www.aeechols.net/
There is so much going on, and it is simply remarkable how she makes us better people for being part of our lives! What a blessing and a gift!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Where's Karina?
All is well - just really busy - for our first 5 days in America as a threesome. We got all of the mail and bills taken care of yesterday. We are bonding well. We are cooking and cleaning. We have not settled into a strict routine as it is difficult to find a block of hours between Stuart and I to agree to our family "rules." We want to make a short yet concise list and have about 10 lists drafted. The issue is, there are many small things like turn off the lights when you leave the room that "take up space on the list." Oh well - we will find time for this. We chose a pediatrician and have our first doctor's appointment on the 19th of May. We are working on school options and dance scheduling right now. Many opportunities do not start again until summertime, after the school year ends. The most exciting part of the last 5 days has been "Where's Karina?" We have been role playing Hannah Montana (who has two personas - Miley Cirus and Hannah Montana). The three of us act out scenes from the TV series and Karina has Papa's old microphone (a real one, cool! even though it doesn't work), a wig, hat, sunglasses, and Hannah clothes. She even has a guitar! We also do a lot of swinging in the park and playing Hide-&-Seek at the park. "Where's Karina" is commonly heard in a fun way! Here's "Hannah"! Where's Karina?
Wow! (Thanks to the "Tangled" wig, since Hannah wigs are no longer on the market) - That's some hair, Hannah!
p.s., Karina wrapped a gift for the first time yesterday. She had never bought a gift for someone before and nor wrapped it! She has never been invited to a party as an individual before either! Yesterday, it was exciting to do this with her! She picked out a really nice gift, too. She has good taste in our opinion. She was thoughtful and considerate.
p.s., Karina wrapped a gift for the first time yesterday. She had never bought a gift for someone before and nor wrapped it! She has never been invited to a party as an individual before either! Yesterday, it was exciting to do this with her! She picked out a really nice gift, too. She has good taste in our opinion. She was thoughtful and considerate.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
All is Well
We were up at 4AM on Friday (jet lag) and caught the royal wedding! Yeah!! Karina was not intrigued so much, and preferred trying on her clothes and pretending that she was Hannah Montana. Friday, we went to Wegman's grocery store and bought food. Karina was a great help! She pushed the cart and priced the vegetables and helped select what to buy. We rested a lot, learned about iCarly, the TV show, took care of the pets and tried to get in sync with the small stuff (making beds, doing laundry, picking up). Yesterday, we went to Papa's office, did some errands, swang at the park, walked, cooked, cleaned, and relaxed. Today, we had a cereal taste-test to figure out who liked who cereals, and that was fun! Now we are making cupcakes. She did it all - even using the mixer! This afternoon, several kids from camp who have already been adopted will meet at the camp and Karina cannot wait to be there! So far, all is terrific! We know there is bound to be a meltdown at some point, but so far, we are doing really well. We have some issues with trying to stretch bedtime past 9PM, but we are strict on that. Today, we are going to work on getting family rules in order and communicate those. We need to set boundaries clearly in order to increase her comfort level. So far, it has been like being on vacation here, and that is OK to ease into things, but her independence and growth depend on us setting clear boundaries. We will let you know how that goes. Finding time to do email, make phone calls, and do the things we used to do for ourselves is not as easy right now, but once we get into sync, we can each have our togetherness and independence, and that will be good. The best gift she got so far has been the journal (blank page book) and pens and markers. She loves having a book of her own, and carries it in her purse, which at this point (because it contains all candy, jewelry, and little trinkets she owns as well) weighs half a ton. Oh Well! Oh and Wii dance = awesome! She LOVES it! (And she's good at it!)
More Soon! Thank you to all for your support and well-wishes and love! We feel it! Happy Sunday!
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