Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Time Out



We are currently watching little troublemaker Maurine sit in time out. Corrinne and I are getting the impression she thinks that our sole purpose here is to entertain her, which means we don’t deserve the same level of respect as some of the other adults who come by. So, unfortunately we have been forced to make her face the consequences of not listening when we ask her to. I think a lot of this goes hand in hand with the fact we had another fun day without any lala time… there are a lot of very tired little munchkins in the house! 
 For some reason Corrinne and I found ourselves sleeping in very late today (a quality 13 hours of sleep) and we are thankful to Ksusha for giving us some time off, and woke up just in time to go to lunch! We all squeezed into the car, including Ksusha and baby Alim, and drove from Usa River to Njiro, about 40 minutes away. The girls were so excited to have some Sprite as a special treat while the rest of us ate our delicious meals. At one point, Ksusha had to run back to the car, so Corrinne and I were once again on our own to care for the girls. These moments are always very unpredictable, but the second Ksusha walked away this time, we could tell it wasn’t going to go well! Princess all of a sudden decided she didn’t like sharing a seat with Maurine who refused to sit down. So while Corrinne went to help fulfill little Princess’ needs, I continued to ask Maurine to sit down properly in her seat. With her unforgettable scrunched-up nose and 1-front-tooth smile, she looked me in the eyes and said “noooo!” and began laughing. The other people sitting nearby were all staring, watching as Corrinne and I struggled to pull Maurine out of her seat and tell her she would be put in time-out immediately upon getting back home! I must admit it was pretty difficult not to laugh at her little rebellious move, but eventually Ksusha came back and was able to restore order at the lunch table. I think the best part had to be when lunch came to a close, and our server came up and asked me, “is this your daughter?” pointing straight at Maurine. Although it may seem a little chaotic, these are my favorite memories when we are all able to learn and grow a little bit more with each other as we become more and more familiar. Plus it always gives us a good laugh looking back at everything that ensued! The ride home was pretty quiet, as the girls were desperately trying to stay awake but eventually gave up. 
Once we finally returned, we asked the girls to brush their teeth before they began to play again. They all ran off to the bathroom single-file, and about 10 minutes later, it seemed way too quiet for our liking. Corrinne ran to check up on them just to find the bathroom flooded in water! The girls looked up with very pitiful, toothpaste-full faces, and Princess seemed to have felt so bad that she ran straight to the mop to begin cleaning up the mess without even being asked. So as Maurine sits in time out while Happy and Princess are playing with each other, Corrinne and I are beginning to make another nutritious meal of chicken, salad and green beans for our naughty (yet painfully sweet) little girls!

3 comments:

  1. Seems like yesterday we were doing the same for you. Interesting how quickly your parental instincts kick in.

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  2. Mambo,
    I Love this!!! Maureen is quite the "tester"!:-) She sure worked
    Dad and I when we were there last! She is such a little loving stinkerbell! I'm sure you girls are learning so much and growing more than you ever planned! Ksusha has done a remarkable job with our girls!
    you girls must be exhausted with all of the hard work you are putting in, but how wonderful to give Ksusha a much needed break... Love you! Lala Salama!

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  3. Well, looking at Maurine's sad little face is so touching and makes you want to hug her even though you know the time out is well needed. That's how parents and grandparents feel when we had to discipline. You definitely have your hands full and what a wonderful(though it doesn't always feel that way)experience you are having. The girls are really going to miss you when you leave especially with all the little trips you're taking them on. I'm sure Ksusha is enjoying her time with you both and greatful for the little reprieve she's getting. I am enjoying the blog so much each day. Thank you for taking the time for filling us in. PS Are the workers still working on the house? Before you leave, be sure to take a picture so we know how the building is coming along. I love you, God Bless, gramma

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