Scrambled Thoughts

Just a few random thoughts I'll put together

• Our trip home from Ethiopia was a bit eye opening. When we got off the plane, we had 2 teenage girls and a mom in front of us. They had never seen an escalator before and didn't know what to do. The mom and first daughter got on OK, but the second daughter kind of freaked. She'd take a step, then get scared and jump off right away. Finally someone beside her took her hand and helped her, but she still kind of freaked and dropped half of her stuff. Poor girl. While in London, in one of my many trips to the bathroom I encountered an Eastern woman with no idea how to work the faucets. I helped her (they were automatic), and helped her with the soap (it was not automatic), and with the automatic dryer. It opened my eyes to how much we take for granted...and what a whole new world it is for Mebira. She got a real kick out of those automatic dryers - she giggled and smiled the whole time she dried her hands. She also loved flushing toilets...cheap entertainment! :-)
• Yesterday was a bit of a harder day. A lot of it stemmed from the fact that I was up at 4am and couldn't sleep any longer. The girls were tired, too so we were all a bit grumpy. We had some great times, and some not so great times. High parts: jumping on the trampoline, bubbles, hours of Barbies, first bath (she loved it), leaving her hair in a cute little afro, and when she pulled on my pants up to her chin and walked around with them. We were all howling with laughter and it was a fun bonding time. Low parts: fatigue, grumpiness and her strong will. We had a battle in the evening and she got really mad and threw a few things. We battled it out, but at the end she got tears in her eyes. I was heartbroken for her - she has been through so much and I felt such compassion for her. Plus, that was the first time I had seen her cry. Even if she hurts herself she won't cry - I think this is common with institutionalized children. The caregivers don't have time to help each time someone cries so eventually the kids learn no one comes to help them anyway so there is no point in crying. As much as I hated to see her cry, I took her in my arms, comforted her, kissed her over and over and told her in Amharic that I am her mother and that I will ALWAYS love her. I think it was good for her to see that she can come to me when she is crying, and she shared my lap with Elizabeth who was soon in tears right after.
• Sleep...the time change has been much easier on Mebira than I would have thought. She doesn't seem tired during the day (probably too much fun to get tired!), but we know she's tired by the evening. Unfortunately, she really battles bed time. She will go to bed fine, but then will be super hyper and won't settle. Arvid has been a star at getting her settled at night (he has to hold her tight for a bit until she relaxes), but once she relaxes she's out immediately. Last night was pretty good - the girls fell asleep a bit after 8 and slept until 7...finally!
  
• We kept the girls home from school yesterday and this morning, we'll send them this afternoon. I'm curious how that will go. I'm sure she'll miss them lots but it's probably good to give G&E a break from some of the drama, and good for my attachment with Mebi. I think Arvid will return to work tomorrow, too so it will be just the two of us.

Anyway, gotta solve another issue...until later...