Short School Career

After chatting to Steve via Skype last night (you know when we were going out we wrote snail mail to each other because email was barely getting started. How strange is that?!! And those phone bills on a student budget...) I tried one more day with Josh.

He really did not want to be there and even though he didn't fuss about it he did not fully engage at any time during the morning. I thought the teachers tried a bit more to get him involved but I'm not sure what they were doing was stimulating enough anyway. And it really wasn't a do or die situation. He likes being home, he is learning lots of stuff [I think sometimes, despite me]. And I like that I have the choice - at home, I wouldn't really have the same options.

So, I withdrew him, and amazingly, because it rarely happens here, the school happily agreed to giving me a refund and I was pleasantly surprised to find that meant the whole amount.

Interestingly, though, he told me that he would like Faith Academy and stay by himself. (Good job!). Funnily, he thought he would be joining Rose in her class. I had to explain that she would have moved up grades by then so we speculated who of his friends might be in that class with him.

Rose didn't get why he wasn't going anymore or why he didn't like it which pretty much sums up the differences in their personalities! I can tell that he is happier again now though and that is worth more to me than any official schooling.

First Day for Josh

I actually thought things were going to go better than I had thought as Joshua was pretty cool about school starting this morning and got dressed fine etc. Rose was very sweet too - as she left for school she said "Have a good day at school, Josh".

However, my high hopes did not materialise as Joshua was great until we reached the classroom door when he jumped into my arms, grabbed hold with a death grip and started crying. Eventually, he did sit by himself and begin to participate but only with me less than a foot away! The school workers were not helpful as they wouldn't take him if he cried - just said, "Oh, you don't like...". This meant I could not dash off and even when I did attempt to leave, he followed me and no-one stopped him!! After an hour and a half I decided I needed to do something new so I went out to the car - where my helper and Naomi were waiting! - and asked my helper to stay with Josh while I went and did the shopping. Josh didn't like that idea and cried for the next half an hour, then decided he wanted to take part in the activities. By the time I returned another hour or so later, he was fine. However, he has told me he will not be going back tomorrow. Hmmmmmm!

Two funny cultural incidents from today: 1) One of Josh's classmates is called Princess (yes, really!) 2) While buying Rose's favourite drink when shopping, one of the assistants was merrily cutting his toenails!!

After we got out of the pool this afternoon we went into the showers and Josh kept messing with the tap underneath the shower. I told him several times to leave it alone but, obviously he didn't as he suddenly shouted, "mummy!" and the water was gushing out of the tap hole while Josh was stood with the tap in his hand having unscrewed it from the wall. There was no way to get the water to stop gushing without turning off some mains and I really didn't want to have to go out and tell the lifeguards they had to shut the ladies' changing rooms because my son had unscrewed a tap so I valiantly attempted to screw the wretched tap back in. After several unsuccessful tries and feeling tempted to give in I finally got the blessed thing back in. Phew! I explained to Joshua that the moral of the story was "Do what mummy tells you?" How long do you think that will last?!

The Inspector

Steve left for Korea this morning. He is part of an inspection team visiting an International school there. I think he is the token Christian on the team so he gets all the Spiritual Life side to observe.

Rose had her first sleepover here but I think I managed to wear them out at the pool in the afternoon so they slept well and got up and played nicely this morning. And I had my cool friends to help me out.

good things

Today Josh was asking if Rose had a quilt and I said "Yes". Then he said, "You make good things, mummy". I was a little surprised and a little wow!ed. He went on to tell me all the favourite bits about his quilt - basically all of it!! It was a special moment.

Rhetorical Questions

Today, Josh asked Naomi, "Do you want to do a slide, a bridge, or a house?"

He was referring to the multi-purpose mattress that functions as any of those 3 things.

Naomi said, "A slide."

Josh said, "How about a bridge?"

Naomi - "A bridge."

Obviously she understands the complex unwritten rules of this exchange!

Where's Spot?

Naomi asked me to read "Where's Spot?" to her. It's one of those where Spot (a dog for the uninitiated) hides behind flaps. It reads "Is Spot behind...." and you open the flap and it says "No" and has a picture of another animal. So the first couple of times Naomi did the "right" thing and each time she opened the flap said, "no, it's a ....". By the fourth time she thought it was funny to say "Yes" every time we opened a flap. I think her uncles would be proud of her anarchist tendencies! But sometimes, I wonder if those dudes who say that if your child chooses to re-read the same book over and over you should humour them; if they actually have ever been in that position or if they are just theorists who have never had the tedious experience of reading the same thing repeatedly?

Coconut, anyone?

Steve had asked me to get a coconut as we hadn't had any for a while so while at the supermarket this morning I spotted some and bought one. Now, it's important for you to know there is buko (young coconut) and niyog (old coconut, the ones you see in supermarkets in England or at coconut shys). This was the niyog variant and after watching me unpack it from the bag my helper asked if I wanted her to take it to the gate and get it drained and shredded (grated/dessicated). I said "No, we are just going to break it open and eat the meat". She looked at me strangely and said, "Do you like that?". I said, "Yes. This is the only kind of coconut you get in England so we eat it like that a lot!". She thought that was very funny.

H and J modelling the buko!

I Love You

Josh and Rose have started using the phrase "I love you" which makes my heart sing every time they say it but I had to laugh as we were in the car and Josh was saying, "I love you, Naomi"..."Naomi, I love you" and she was just grunting back to him. He said it a few times but I don't think he really got the response he was looking for.

But, as they begin to understand the concept of l

ove, it's cool to think that, as we have celebrated Easter and the amazing LOVE God showed to us, that they can begin to get a glimpse of what that really means. And, to be honest, I don't think I really have much more than a glimpse of what that means too.

Christ is Risen. He is Risen indeed!

Being Flexible

As it was Good Friday and the traffic is very good on a Good Friday due to superstitions about Jesus' death, I decided it would be a great day to drive and dive with some friends. However, if there's one thing I have learned living in the Philippines, it's that just as you think you have things figured out you receive a googly (cricket term for a strange bowl). Or you realise that you have to be flexible and go with the flow. I had arranged - I thought - for us to dive at one resort for a very reasonable price but when we arrived (at 8 in the morning, having left home at 5:30) they had no record of us having booked. Furthermore there were all sorts of extra costs we had not accounted for. So, after sitting, relaxing by the sea for a while, we finally decided to get to the bottom of things. We discovered the lady I had emailed was in a Makati office - far from the resort and that was probably why the communication had gone somewhat awry. So the actual price was way over what I had budgeted and, because it was Good Friday, the place was heaving with people so there wasn't enough gear for us to go out anyway. In the end we decided to cut our losses, managed to extricate ourselves without paying an entrance fee and drove further up the coast - via McDonald's for lunch - to a place we have dived at before. The day turned out OK but it reminded me that communication in this country is not always straightforward!

A new first

Naomi actually managed to sit on the potty and do a wee today. Usually she just claims to have done a wee but it was real today! We were all pretty excited but I think we will have to wait a while for the next one. It's so hot right now that she doesn't want to wear anything but she doesn't want to use the potty either!

The Shoes Reveal the Man!

Naomi was messing about and she put on Steve's shoes and then came walking towards me saying, "Look mummy, I have daddy's shoes on". Naomi, Josh and I were giggling about it and then Josh said, "Hey you put on daddy's trainers and I'll wear those shoes. Then you can be daddy running and I will be daddy at school".

Naomi says...

Naomi has made me laugh a lot this week so this is a special feature on her!!

Firstly, I've noticed how often when she's asked to do something she says "Not Yet" or "Not Right Now". It's made me reflect on how often I say it to her and the other two. Something I need to work on, perhaps?!

Another thing that's made me laugh is that she suddenly asked "Are H and J asleep?". I explained that they had gone on the aeroplane to England (concept way over her head) and that they had to have been sleeping quite a long time as it was a few days since they had left. It has made me realise how time also has no concept to her. Sometimes I have wondered about that verse that says a thousand years is as one day etc. But maybe that's what it is like to Naomi - length of time has no meaning for her.

Lastly, Joshua has indoctrinated Naomi into thinking that daddy is his daddy and mummy is her mummy. So she had started saying "Joshie, your daddy..." or "Josh's daddy" whenever she was talking about Steve so I have spent quite a bit of time correcting the statement whenever I have heard it. And, to be fair, Josh started correcting her too, saying, "he's all our daddy. He's mine and Rose's daddy and your daddy". So she has now gone back to calling Steve "my daddy"!

Montessori

We took Josh to show him his new school today. They are already out of session for the Filipino summer holidays but at least it gave him a picture of what they school is like. He seemed fairly positive about it. Rose wanted to come too but we didn't want her to sway him by making proclamations about the school! We have decided to put him in for summer school there as they have very small classes and we think it will be a good introduction for him. That starts in 2 weeks and I feel kind of sad as it feels like the beginning of the end of his time at home.