have you ever seen a month go by so fast?! it's especially surprising that time has gone by so quickly when you factor in that we've barely left our house this whole time. I now know like seven Turkish words (we do a word a day as part of our lesson routine now). I perfected my skills at holding bowls in front of TWO kids at once when they're both ready to urp up the pizza they just begged me to make while they have a stomach bug. (Thank goodness Cort and Billie were well that day ...because I don't have FOUR hands). Here's the stomach bug we had "I feel sick...UUUUUUUUUURP.....Can I have some baklava?"
?????
I kept asking the kids to STOP EATING. A new nurse friend gave us a tip- "Sip on a sugared drink...just a sip every 5 minutes."
Being all with the healthiness....there's no kool-aid in the house...we only have 100% juice. So, I make some sugar water tea. But Jackson...ever weary of trying a new food, 'doesn't like the taste'. He stays sick for 3 days and moans and whines and doesn't want to try sugar water. He watches Billie head out with friends, go to the park, Brownies, dance and sing while he lays motionless on the couch all day long.
Which brings us to my next subject...Billie going out. Rapid road to independence since we moved here. When the kids were little tiny tots I really wanted to keep them safe and protected for 5 years, that was my goal. Now we're on the edge of Billie's 7th birthday and they have had a pretty great life thus far. You know Bill and I keep them pretty close to heart but now I'm feeling so good about the little people that they are and the smart, responsible choices that they (well, Billie at least) make we spend a lot of time together. Having no friends and no life gave us a little time to get back to focus on our family time and I have been truly enjoying the kids so much lately.
As we're in an apartment building we can't just run out in the backyard with the door open and be near by. Billie's friends will come to the door, ask if she can go out, she'll get on her coat and shoes, go down the elevator, play at one of the nearby playgrounds (I can see her from the balconies) and then come back up when she's done. This is MAJOR. It's a super safe place with kids all over, Turkish and American but this is a big step for Billie and I'm just bursting with pride at how she's handling it.
It's really wonderful because at 7, when Bill and I were kids, we were able to bike around, meet up with friends and that's something I felt sad my kids would not be able to have...neighborhood independence. Now they have it. Sometimes Jackson is allowed to go with Billie and her friends but I don't think he's quiet ready for supervising himself yet. He's 5, doing 2nd grade work AND he thought it would be a good idea to stick a chopstick into the USB hub on our computer this morning.
3 comments:
I am so excited to read all this, but my first instinct, because of placement, is to say "chopstick in the USB port???" Ack. But, on another note, honestly, I cannot BELIEVE Billie is turning 7--that is SO huge to me somehow. But everything you write here shows that it is both huge and working. PLEASE get over all the sick stuff so you can start spreading your wings! Love and kisses, ma/nanna
sounds like everyone, everyWHERE is sick. Sick of it!
We miss you, but I'm glad you're getting adjusted. The park is not the same without you, though there are undercurrents of a knitting revolution, but I'm stuck in sleeve hell. BTW, I see you have your camera (cute picture! where was it taken? at the Brownie outing/bordello?). I hope you'll geti some knitting pix on Ravelry.
Oh, and maybe you could be a foreign correspondant for the newsletter?
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