So I'm having a very rare moment here as I type at 7:09am because I'm the only one up. I quickly booted up the computer, waited impatiently for everything to start up, typed in the address a couple times too quickly so it was wrong, and now I'm frantically typing. Why? Because there is no way that I'll finish this post before one of my 2 girls needs me.
There was a perfect time in history when my eldest would sleep till almost 8am every morning. I would get up, run, take a shower, read, drink coffee and feel totally prepared for a new day. Now, I'm usually lying down with her around 6am so she'll go back to sleep. As I leave her room her little sister begins to cry and by the time I crawl back into bed, it's time for us to get up.
Yesterday, was a rainy cool fall day. Madeleine came in around 6:45am, wide awake and so happy for a new day. My bed felt so warm and cozy. I had my husband there, a coolness in the air, my bed was warm, it was gray outside...it was the perfect morning to snooze on and on except for the little blonde girl beside me saying, "It's a little bit light outside. I think you should get up."
It's now 7:15am and I'm still alone. Wow.
Yesterday Maddie, QiaoQiao, her mom, her grandmother and I went to a "school" named Baby Art. Xiao Wan (QiaoQiao's mom) had told me about this school that was more play than school like. I imagined a large room full of toys and a bunch of little kids running around playing. Well, it was a super nice facility, totally kid friendly, with little classrooms and well-trained teachers.
Our teacher was Summer. She started off by having the girls play in a basin of water. They pretended it was rain and they talked about how it felt and what it looked like. Then they filled up spray bottles and misted each other. Summer then squirted paint in everyone's hands and they began painting. They each had their own paper on the wall that they hand painted and then squirted to make it run. It was so cool. At one point Maddie put her paint hands on the wall. She looked at Summer and Summer said, "That's fine Mei Lian (Maddie), you can paint anywhere you'd like." This thinking is just so unique here. Letting a child be creative and make their own decisions.
Oh.....no longer alone! And the whinning has begun.
Anyway, after some talking and budgeting we decided that Maddie will attend Baby Art. It's set-up so that she'll have a lesson once a week. Everything is very hands on - making bread, noodles, planting stuff, art, and all in Chinese, of course. Very fun.