Family Day!

Monday, 31 December

I got up first, at about 6:20 (after lying awake for a while) and dressed quietly - but Giggles heard me before I was finished and called me back to bed for some playtime. We played until about 7:20, then it was time for all to get up and get on with the day. I got breakfast going, while Giggles sat on the porch with Laolao and read some stories.

The morning agenda was thus: a bit of outdoor playtime with Giggles to get some sun and fresh air, then some serious schoolwork time, as we have done only haphazard bits and pieces over the past two weeks, and virtually nothing during our southern tour. While we worked on schoolwork, Laolao and Laoye headed up Bole road to buy some more groceries. Giggles started with another page in her scrapbook about Ethiopia (for a Social Studies unit on another country) while I reviewed her phonics pages to see how I could help her with some instruction on long vowels, to make completing the pages easier. After an hour, we took a break and played outside for another fifteen minutes, during which time Laolao and Laoye returned. Then it was about another hour of work, completing the phonics pages for the day and reading 15 pages of a story. That was all for today - still not a full schedule, but more than we've been doing.

As Solomon had not yet called, I spent some time going over the instructions from Giggles teachers about the work she should complete and drawing up a schedule to ensure it all gets done. I've worked it out to four days a week, and am hoping that we'll be able to do all the work in about 3 hours a day, seeing as we want to have some time to do some sightseeing, too, here in Addis. We may be able to do some of that in the afternoons, though one potential complication is that Poppet still naps during the afternoon. I suppose we could sightsee in the mornings and do schoolwork in the afternoons. However, I think that would be counterproductive as afternoons are a tired time for Giggles, too, even if she doesn't nap. It would likely take more than three hours to complete the schoolwork - and involve an awful lot more complaining and whining on her part, cajoling and bribery on mine, and frustration for both of us.

By 11:30, when Solomon still hadn't called, I called him and we arranged that he would come pick us up at 1:00. So we ate lunch and had a bit more play time, before the car arrived.

The trip to the Transition House (TH) seemed a lot more direct and shorter, this time. We were there in about 15 minutes (I think - or maybe it was just anticipation). Once again, we headed first to the director's office and had a chat first, before heading over for coffee in the gazebo/ tukul. (Since we arrived in Ethiopia, my lifetime consumption of coffee has quadrupled!) Shortly after we came to the tukul, Poppet was brought out to us. He was more lively this time - we saw his famous smile several times; he sat on Laolao's knees and hugged and kissed us all. All the staff also dropped by to say goodbye - he had lots of hugs and kisses from and for them. It seemed like he was a favourite of many of the staff! (Or maybe all the kids are favourites and they all are cherished and sent off with hugs and kisses.)

This time I had prepared a list of questions, which I'd been too overwhelmed and anxious to do last time. Things like what are his favourite foods (fruits and vegetables), how long does he nap (about 45 minutes), is he scared of anything in particular (no), and what are his favourite toys and games (soccer and airplanes). I also asked who his closest friends have been at the TH. His absolute best friend, I was told, was Meheret, about 4-5 years old like him, who has already gone to Canada with her parents. Another good friend is Dereje, whose parents I have contact with. They live in the same city as Laolao and Laoye, so we will definitely be able to visit him, though not often - maybe every two to three years. Thirdly, a little boy who just left for Canada last night with his little sister and new parents. And finally there is Kenean, who has two younger siblings and (if I recall correctly) is still at the TH.

Then came the time to leave. This was a difficult moment. Poppet knew what was coming, and he ran into a corner and started to cry, trying to avoid leaving everything he knew and all the people he loved. It was heart-wrenching. Finally one of the men carried him out to the waiting car. Solomon got in with us - three adults with Poppet in the back seat, and me with Giggles in the front passenger seat - and off we went. As soon as we climbed into the car and started off, with Poppet seated on Solomon's lap, he quieted and gazed out the window at all the scenes passing by. The children rarely leave the TH, so everything outside its narrow confines is a new world for them.

It seemed to take longer to arrive back home, who knows why. But arrive home we did. The taxi entered the compound and everyone unfolded from the tightly packed car. Poppet seemed entranced by the new place and was quite content to follow Giggles into the house. We distracted him with a few toys, and the landlord's son, Abraham, came with us for a few minutes while Solomon quietly left. Poppet promptly set about exploring this new home. He looked at the books; he looked at the paper and coloured pencils and markers; we showed him his drawer of clothes; he was delighted by the big soft bed. Giggles was a very good big sister and took him around, showing him various things, keeping him out of things he shouldn't get into, and playing with him.

We had arrived home around 3:45. We spent the next two hours playing together: sometimes Giggles, Poppet and I, sometimes just Giggles and Poppet, sometimes the two of them with Laolao. (Laoye left shortly after 4:00 to explore Bole Road some more.) We played outside with a little ball; then I found our big inflatable world ball and we played with that. (At one point it got thrown up high and carried by the wind over the treetops. We thought it had landed in the neighbour's compound, but the neighbour couldn't see it. Then Abraham saw it, lodged on the treetops, and got out the ladder to knock it down. Hurray!) We played with the stuffies for a few minutes. The kids got out the paper and markers and drew for a few minutes. We looked at several books at various intervals. Nothing held Poppet's attention for very long; how could it when there were so many new things? He seemed particularly drawn to the books, the balls, and the paper and pencils. All things that Giggles likes, too! When Laoye arrived back from his explorations, Poppet ran and greeted him enthusiastically. (I think Laoye will enjoy having a little fellow around.)

We learned that he knows a few English words. That had been one of the questions I'd asked at the TH - are the children taught any English? They said they learned simple songs and some basic words. So far I have heard him say look, Mama, Daddy (said to Laoye, who is actually Grandpa), doggy, ball, and toilet. Oh, and he learned "whee!" when we were throwing the ball to each other!

After supper, we read and played a little bit longer. Laolao went over part of an African animal alphabet and number book with Poppet; he said the whole alphabet correctly, pointing to all the right letters, and counted from one to ten. (What a genius!)

Then it was bedtime. I took Poppet and Giggles to the bathroom to brush teeth; this seemed to be something new to him, but he copied Giggles's every gesture, right down to the rinsing and spitting every time she did. She asked me why he kept copying her; I told her she was the big sister and a model for him; he might not know about brushing teeth but he would likely copy a lot of the things she did as he learned how things work in our family.

We'll need to work on bedtime routines a bit. For the past year and a half, the routine with Giggles has been some story time in the Story Chair (at home in Canada), then teeth and jammies, then we crawl into bed and I read a chapter to her from the latest chapter book we're working on. Right now it's These Happy Golden Years, the eighth book in the Little House on the Prairie series. Here in Ethiopia, we haven't necessarily been doing Story Chair stories, but we've been consistent about doing the bedtime chapter. But we're going to have to make some modifications to that routine.

Tonight, I tried getting both kids into bed and then reading the chapter while they lay quietly listening.

But of course Poppet doesn't understand a word (or hardly more than one or two). So he kept jumping on the bed and tickling Giggles and generally acting up, while she was trying to listen to the story. Finally I shut the book and said I'd finish reading the chapter to her once Poppet was asleep. I tucked them both in, gave them a goodnight kiss, and came to the living room to start blogging. I'd been here only a few minutes when Giggles came out, complaining that Poppet wouldn't stop tickling her and playing with the light. So I went in and lay down with both of them. He didn't fall asleep right away, though, and he wasn't leaving Giggles much bed space (probably about as much space as she usually leaves me!), so she laid a bed for herself on the floor.

He still didn't quieten right down, so I told Giggles to ask Laolao to finish reading the chapter to her and I'd come out when Poppet was alseep. While she was out, Poppet settled somewhat, but didn't fall deeply asleep. Every time I thought he was almost out, he'd stir again, sit up and look around. This went on and on and on. Finally Giggles came back in; she was tired and asked if he was asleep yet. I said no, but suggested that she crawl into bed anyhow as he was quiet enough he likely wouldn't bother her. So she did, and that seemed to be what he had been waiting for; at least it seemed that he fell asleep less than a minute later. (Which perhaps makes sense; he's likely much more accustomed to sleeping with other children in the room than with grown-ups.) I kissed Giggles goodnight again, said I'd be in later, and left the room. (No complaints! Whether just because she was tired, or whether the presence of another warm body in the bed made a difference, I can't say for sure, though I suspect the latter had a lot to do with it.)

From teeth-time to sleep-time took not quite one and a half hours; a good hour of that was waiting for Poppet to fall asleep. We'll try a few different things tomorrow.

While I prepared the day's blog entry, Laolao and Laoye watched some news on the BBC new network. We saw some of the New Year's celebrations in Australia and New Zealand, as well as the preparations for the festivities in London and New York. But nobody here was inclined to stay up until midnight to ring anything in, and there are no particular festivities in Ethiopia - they celebrated their New Year back in September (and the New Millenium to boot).

(Continue to 1 January 2008: A New Year for a new family)