... 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!
No comments:
Post a Comment