We're Home Parts 3 & 4
We're Home Parts 5 & 6
We are home and after all the worried everything is settling into place nicely. Vitha has revealed his first gripe about his sister (her jangly Khmer bracelet keeps him from going to sleep at night), so we are right on track for a healthy sibling relationship. Surprisingly he has been pretty good about the growing orgy of pink items on Saray's side of the bedroom. Wilma the Wonderful (our maid) is a hot favourite with Saray, as she allows her to help cook the meals. Saray carries her little plastic step everywhere. It is a very precious item that - very importantly - makes her tall enough to see into the mirror to do her hair and lipstick. Oh, she is very much a girly-girl and it is driving me nuts already. All those cute little girls surfie shorts and bright coloured t-shirts I was imagining.....all pushed to the back of the cupboard in favour of anything that is a skirt, sparkly or pink. At the moment she is doing the Khmer squat on the floor beside me, intent on savouring every piece of an orange that she pronounced very p'aim (sweet) and singing to herself. All while wearing purple pajamas with a duck on the front and a silver tiara. Both of which she refuses to take off.
Saray has probably bonded most deeply with ET the Turtle, who she rushes to see each morning, tapping on his glass and calling "ET, ET. Hungry?" She is very impressed by the amount he can eat. He fits well in our house but thank goodness we don't need to feed him regular food as well. Continuing the Cambodian kid tradition Saray is eating us out of house and home. Even Vitha is impressed by her appetite, which already rivals his. After a week of refusing to eat vegetables in Cambodia she decided on the first day home that vegies at our house are "different" and therefore quite palatable. Like Vitha, Saray loves Wilma's fried rice, which Wilma cooks in bulk and stores in big containers in the fridge.
Vitha has already started to teach Saray how to play soccer and tried in vain to get her speak English to his friends at football on Saturday morning. Considering she had only been home 14 hours it wasn't surprising that she didn't cooperate but it was hilarious watching all those big 12 year olds trying every trick on the book to get her to speak.
Saray already knew the following from the nuns..... 1-10 and NAUGHTY
So far she has learned from us......NO, yes, hungry, silly, funny, thank you, quack quack (remember her pajamas have a duck on the front)
My only wonder so far is....how did I manage to get the two most wonderful kids in the world?
P.S. When I started writing this page Saray was sitting beside me eating the orange. But at the sound of Wilma starting the vacuum cleaner she was off like a shot and is now vacuuming like a pro. Now I'm not one to push my kids into stereotyped roles but geez, if she LIKES housework maybe I won't discourage her!!!!
- eggs
- long hair; and
- wedding clothes
Eggs. Preferably duck eggs. Saray eats one when she wakes up and another mid-morning. She would eat eggs to the exclusion of all other foods if we let her. I have had to limit her to 2 per day (very unpopular decision). She is basically an egg nazi. She divides each dozen up in the refrigerator. Four eggs for the rest of the family, 8 for Saray. And she makes every family member count the eggs to make sure we understand she has eight (we have to count in English and Khmer just to be doubly sure). Each day she counts the eggs several times and if one is missing demands an explanation.
Long Hair. Like most Khmer girls and I dare say many little girls everywhere, Saray equates long hair with beauty. She was horrified when I had mine cut even shorter earlier this week. To be fair she DID have long hair when she first came into care but the nuns cut it off into a severe bowl cut that was 2 inches long all around her head. Luckily it's growing out now. Anyway, all major life experiences seem to be linked to Saray's hair. Such as "when I have long hair you will buy all the clothes in the market for me" and "when I have long hair I will be able to wear your red nail-polish". I remember having long, long hair until I was 12 but I don't remember it being an obsession. The grass is always greener I guess.
Wedding Clothes. On the second day Saray was with us she announced that we needed to go to the market and buy beautiful wedding clothes. I thought I heard wrong but was eating lunch with a Khmer friend at the time who confirmed my understanding. Saray was afraid she would leave Cambodia and would not be able to get married in all the traditional Khmer finery. We struck a deal that when she is 20 (and has long, long, long hair, according to Saray) we will come back and I will buy her the most beautiful wedding clothes in Cambodia. I wonder if she will want the whole shebang. Hmmmm, the wedding music, pink marquee and ill-fitting suits on the men I can handle. But I wonder if Saray will also want the fake curly hair attachments and the white pancake makeup as well. Better start saving.
Vitha is enjoying being a big brother. One strategy that I am using to make sure we spend time together away from Saray is to book "dates". Friday night was our first and we went to dinner and then to see the new James Bond movie Die Another Day. While I was drooling over the conflict diamonds that form part of the movie plot, Vitha was most impressed with 007's smooth moves with the women. His first comment after the movie was "whoooa, he kissed THREE different girls Mum". Oh to have such wonder at the world!
Xin nian kuai le! Happy Chinese New Year.