tired and a bit bored

It's Saturday. Phil's gone to the University to participate in the HIV/AIDS training. Maddie and I are here trying to take a nap. I'd love to take a nap but Madeleine would rather act really sleepy and then refuse to sleep. She's screaming as I type.

I wonder when our minds make the switch from thinking that naps are the most wicked form of punishment to thinking they are one of the greatest activities on earth. The problem is that the switch doesn't happen for most people until a time in life when all you'd like to do is nap but you can't.

Sounds like Madeleine decided to sleep. That didn't take long. It seems that the times when she screams the loudest are also the times when she falls asleep the fastest.

I'd better get my nap, too.

zzzzzzz...

moving time

Well my house looks like it did at some point when we moved here about 2 years ago. Boxes lying around, no pictures up, hammers, cleaning rags and tape sitting in random spots around the living room. It's a mess. Another move, more good-byes and mixed emotions. I'm going to miss... ..real CH food whenever I want it for dirt cheap, ..a tailor that made all my curtains and waves to me every time I walk past her shop, ..the little boy who's parents own the light bulb shop and yells, "hello!" every time we pass by, ..all the little kids that very politely say, "Ayi" (Aunt) when they pass me, ..our first friend in Chengdu who owns a local shop and buys birds as a hobby - bird guy, as we call him, ..the best dumpling makers, the steamed bread makers, the shopkeepers that deliver our milk for free and know our address by heart, ..the courtyard of our complex where Maddie can play by herself or with her friends while we keep an eye on her from our 4th floor, ....

Fickle ol' solidarity

At some point in March when this virus deemed that it had spread so far that it could be called a pandemic, I told the girls they should do video journals to remember the days of living in a pandemic. Here now in the middle of April, I realize that I need to write for myself and the girls can just have lots of regret when they're older because they didn't do what I said. When the whole world started moving to stay-at-home orders, I felt such a strong sense of solidarity. I looked at all of us (literally all of us - okay, most of us) in our different areas of the world facing this beast together. Jimmy Fallon's wife filmed him hosting from home. John Krasinski started SGN in his home office. Everyone was joking about toilet paper, sweatpants, and cutting your own bangs. Italians were singing from their balconies. Wuhan folk were singing from their high-rises. Hospitals in NYC were being surrounded by patrol cars each evening with lights flashing and ...

the number dilemna

I don't know how many kids I want. I know how many kids Phil would like, 2. Immediately, after giving birth to Lilian I looked up at Phil and said, "I don't want any more kids. I don't want to do this again. Two is enough." I have not forgotten what caused me to passionately speak those words to Phil. But, when I hold my sweet little girl I have this nagging thought that I don't want this to be the last little baby I cuddle with. So here is what I think about to try to decide: Traveling...5 people boarding a plane, packing for 5, finding lodging for 5, feeding 5 while on vacation. We travel a lot so this is something that really is good to consider. Of course, the main time this will be a hassle is when 3 of the 5 are still young and need a lot of assistance from the 2 that are adults. Sleeping...where does a third sleep? Is it possible to get 3 kids to nap at the same time? Both of my girls sleep through the night well almost every night , do I wa...

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