Kid Round-Up

I am sick. Sigh. What kind of moron gets a cold in August.

Ok, a round-up:

Juliette's binky-less sleeping is proceeding nicely. No more issues. Our next hurdle will be to get both girls through the night without diapers. I intend to accomplish this goal before we travel to England in December so that we will not need to pack diapers at all. Last night, Ilsa woke up around 12:30 (we were still up, like idiots) because of a bad dream. She said that Juliette stole her blanket and took it outside. When we told Juliette about this in the morning, she looked really, really confused, as if trying to remember when she had done such a thing. Funny.
***Juliette is having issues with two broad, advanced concepts, both of which relate to dinosaurs: extinction and carnivores. First, she thinks that extinct dinosaurs are the ones your see in museum, namely skeletons. I have tried to explain that they are ALL dead, even the very nice illustrations in books, and that we cannot go see them. She insists that we can see dinosaurs in Texas (behind glass so as to be safe). Second, carnivores are bad dinosaurs - particularly T-Rex (and, when she gets all smarty, Allosaurus too). She has all of her toy dinosaurs gang up on T-Rex to protect their babies from that bad dinosaur. T-Rex eats "meat and dinosaurs," as if the two items are different. Sigh. We're getting there. She is beginning to apply a similar logic to sharks, despite the "fish are friends, not food" mantra in Nemo.
***Our neighbor, five-year-old Omar, is an interesting example of religious indoctrination. His family is Indian Muslin. The other day when I was eating a hot dog, he asked if my hot dog was halal. I said no. So he said, "You are not Muslim?" I said no. He asked, "So you are Christian?" I said no, that I do not believe in Christ. He asked, "Do you believe in Christians?" I kept myself from laughing and just repeated that I was not, in fact, a Christian. He seemed to process this for a few seconds before running away shouting, "But Allah made you too!" Later that same day, he said that our music was not Muslim either.

His adorable little three-year-old sister, Fatima, is utterly unconcerned by such specifics. She said, "Allah made toys. Allah made stars. Allah made my mama." All the good stuff, apparently. If only belief stayed that simple.
***Juliette is in the midst of a very emphatic phase. She says everything with such earnest conviction as to inspire (internal) laughter. "I think NObody is STUpid." (I do not know where she got that.) "I think I am REALly CLEVER." "I think I am REALly good at drawing books." "That's a REALly good idea, I think." (When she adds the "I think" at the end of any sentence, I crack up. It sounds very British, an afterthought that this may simply be the speaker's opinion).
***If I hear another word about what Blue from Blue's Clues does, thinks, owns, wants, or is friends with, I will go insane. Get the padded room ready, because the likelihood is great.
***Ilsa rarely tells me no. She simply says, "I don't want to." Very diplomatic, but still frustrating. Sigh. That and asking nicely for things are our bigs goals with the little one at present.
***Earlier in the week, I had to preserve the peaceful sanctity of our United Nations-style sandbox when two new kids started to frequent our backyard. One is a very aggressive Chinese boy from a different block, one prone to hurling sticks and flinging sand. Had to nix that behavior. The other was an eastern European-looking boy of about three or four. He started playing with the Turkish boy from upstairs, Ardah. When four-year-old Korean Jeongg-yu wanted to play trucks, Ardah said to the new boy, "We hate him." As soon as she heard that, Juliette decided that she would not play with Jeongg-yu either. I had to step in right away and have everyone apologize to Jeongg-yu, and I played with them a bit to smooth things over.

Then the nameless new boy started a game of "lets throw toys." He picked up my girls' wagon and pitched it against a tree. I was already out of my seat and on my way to his locale in anticipation of his actions. The handle of the wagon broke off and I yanked him by the arm to the scene of his crime. I lectured him about being good to people and their things, and I made him apologize to the girls. Luckily, I fixed the wagon. In the meantime, the boy ran home to his mama. She came over a little while later, dragged physically by the boy. Perhaps he wanted to show her where the nasty lecturing lady was sitting, but he said nothing. She made no attempt to introduce herself, and I have not seen either since.

The fall-out remains, however. Yesterday, Juliette said, "Everyone hates Jeongg-yu." And I had to start all over again. Before moving here, I never thought I was the sort of person to discipline other children, but I feel it comes rather naturally when those kids' behavior affects the girls and their environment.
***I am seeing a trend for my future. I allow the girls out of my sight briefly when they "make circles" on their trikes. They can go around the building, staying on the sidewalk that in now way touches the parking lot. When they make circles, I am almost always outside with them, keeping track of where they ride. Other interconnecting sidewalks, however, go down to the parking lot, and the other boys travel freely to those areas - whether with or without permission I do not know. Their parents are most often inside their houses with no real sense of the kids' locations.

Juliette, in particular, gets frustrated when the boys leave her behind, and she has asked on occasion if she can make "bigger circles" like Omar and Ardah. I always say no, and she always listens. In the future, this "I say no/she listens" dynamic will be tested repeatedly, and I am nervous. I remember that same feeling from when I was a child/teen. Aside from the Amish and other very restrictive Christians, my parents were generally more strict than my friends' parents, but their influence held. I was good - really! I can only hope that my influence is that strong in the girls' futures.