Innovative Toddler Curriculum

Here is a guide to creating your own toddler curriculum guaranteed to improve your toddler's problem solving skills; your own will be exercised as well. For the "Toddler Blockade," find a spot that your toddler likes to access but you would like for him to stay away from. A flight of stairs works well for this; they are irresistible to children who can barely walk on a level floor. Using just items around your house, block the stairs to keep the toddler from climbing them. The temptation to buy a baby gate to block them is easier to resist if you live in a country where they are considered luxury items, demonstrated by the exorbitant price tag. I must not forget to mention that you must be able to navigate the barrier while holding a basket full of wet laundry in one arm and the toddler in the other. Bonus points if the three year old sister can also get to the stairs without too much difficult. The more ways the stairs are accessible to the toddler, the better. For example, once we put chairs in front of our stairs, Simeon squeezed through the banister rails. We managed to thwart him there, so he slithered through the gaps between the steps from underneath, demonstrating the effectiveness of this curriculum. (Please excuse the dust in the photo above; the "Dusting Toddler" is next on the syllabus.)

Another component of the curriculum is the "Kitchen Chair Game." Begin this once the child starts climbing chairs to reach things. The first sign that Simeon was ready for this was when he began bring stools to the kitchen chairs so he could climb from the stool to the chair to the table. For awhile, we just hid the stools, but then he learned to climb the chairs from the floor. For this game, any chair that is not actively being sat in needs to be pushed away from the table. It should also not be near any counter or cupboard that would be reachable by the toddler standing on the chair. The time that it takes for the toddler to push a chair to a location from which he can "get into something" will gradually lessen. Items of particular interest or danger to the toddler should be kept high enough that he would not be able to reach them even by climbing on the back of the chair. Before pushing the chairs to the table for a meal, the toddler should be placed in his highchair.

This curriculum can be adapted to many areas of the house including the heavily wired area around the computer and the space around a hot oven. (We attempted blocking these in another house when Eris was a toddler.) If you'd like help customizing the curriculum to your own home and toddler, write me a comment. All advice is free, although if your toddler has amazing results with this curriculum, I do accept donations (just send a check in my name to my parents'). Some things will be impossible to render off limits such as the propane tank, the pipe underneath the kitchen sink that when pulled allows the sink to drain straight onto the floor, living room fan, and the buttons on the washing machine. With extreme patience and perseverance, the toddler will eventually learn to leave these alone. In the meantime, the "Mommy Curriculum" teaches me to act in love when water splashes all over my feet and to be patient when I head to the washing machine planning to hang up laundry only to find it paused mid-cycle.
 
*I have used "he" throughout the post because my own current toddler is a boy. It is simpler than using he/she each time. This style of curriculum worked very well with my girls, too!

Lost Wallet; Found Peace

Every Sunday on the way home from church, we stop by the Big C grocery store and supper. It makes for a long day out but is much easier than heading back out during the week. Also, I don't have to make or clean up supper. Last Sunday, I was trying to make sure I purchased all the items needed for Christmas dinner as well as a few gifts. I had other places I needed to go during the few days before Christmas (Immigration Day was one of those) and didn't want to have to make another trip there. After checking out, I put my groceries in a couple of cloth bags, the receipt in a bag, my coins in my coin purse, and my bills in my wallet. I then replaced my coin purse and wallet in my purse. I had Simeon on my front in the carrier and Hollis in the cart. I pushed the cart outside and removed all our belonging before sliding it into line with the others. Then we walked to meet Daddy, Meriel, and Eris at a little outside shop. Hollis found something for Daddy at that shop, and we went up to the table to buy it. I fished around in my purse for my wallet and couldn't find it. Sometimes I have a hard time finding things in my purse since it has much in it. I just paid for the item with coins and then took a closer look through my purse.

Philip and Meriel had gone to the food court area, so I asked Eris to hold my things as I took them out of my purse: New Testament, phone, coin purse, passport copies, hair barrettes, keys, Sunday school papers, pens. It was empty; I turned it inside out to double check - no wallet. I must have dropped it outside of my purse instead of into it after paying for the groceries. I retraced my steps to checkout counter 22 without finding it. I looked around the counter and asked the clerk; she hadn't seen it. I thought I might have accidentally put it into another bag, so I went upstairs to find Philip and the other bags. On the table Philip had staked out for our supper, I emptied each bag, careful not to show anybody his or her Christmas present. When I was reasonably sure that my wallet was not in our possession, I went back to the grocery store to the Customer Service desk.

It took me awhile to explain what I was missing. The word used for wallet in Thai is "grapau" which can also mean pocket, purse, or suitcase. After pointing to another person's wallet, the ladies behind the desk understood. They then called a person who spoke some English to come assist me. No one had turned in the wallet, so I was fairly certain that somebody had taken it. It was unlikely that it would still be lying unfound after thirty minutes with the amount of people in that place. I gave the lady my phone number in case it was found and went back to the food court. I was tired and disheartened. I felt that I had enough to do tonight with putting away groceries, getting the kids ready for bed, and getting ready to go the immigration office in the morning. We had been on track to getting home at a reasonable time but now it was going to be on the late side due to the time I had spent looking for the wallet. I was too upset to eat supper. I put on a brave face for the kids, but Eris knew I was discouraged and was especially loving and sweet.

God gave me the grace to act appropriately towards my tired children and helpful husband. After the girls were in bed, I had time to process the loss of my wallet. The anger and frustration had passed; now I was just tired. I felt bad about the loss of money; we don't have much to spare, and we strive to be good stewards with every baht. I was thankful it had been lost after I had bought Christmas presents at the market that morning and groceries in the evening, so there was less cash. I had been carrying more money that I usually do to buy gifts if I saw them; about 1500 baht ($50) was left. I also carried skytrain cards worth another 1300 baht. However, I realized that God had allowed the loss of my wallet and He was just as able to provide for our needs as before I lost that money. I prayed for the person who took the wallet, that he/she would be able to use the money to provide for their needs and that God would bring someone to them to share Christ.

Philip was very loving and did all the necessary paperwork for immigration. I only had to packed the bag for the morning. Philip even brought me back some goi-ti-ouw (noodle soup) when he went out to make copies. I ate my soup while calling the credit card hotline to cancel my card. I called my mom who was able to cancel the rest of the cards from our joint accounts. The hassle didn't take as long as I thought, and I was so thankful for my mom who was willing to help lessen the burden. The trouble of replacing my driver's license and library cards could be dealt with later. (Still not done yet.) I grieved over the loss of photos - my brother, my dog Maiden, my closest friends, Eris as a baby, Philip carrying me over the threshold. Some are saved digitally and can be replaced but the notes on the back cannot. I am thankful that I still have all these friends, with the exception of my dog, and I really don't need to carry them around in my wallet; they are in my heart.

This past year, God had developed me into a person who is more able to give my troubles to Him. I am calmer and more peace-filled. This situation allowed me to see some of the changes in my character. I was surprised at how easily I was able to give the problem to God, to let go my frustration, and to allow my husband to help as needed. Not to say I behaved perfectly in the situation but better than I would have a year ago. I was able to fall asleep right away that night, blessed by my family and the Lord.

The final item that I remember was in my wallet was an advertisement torn from a magazine when I was in college. I carried it because it always made me laugh, even when I was having a hard day. I thought it was irreplaceable, but I just did a Google image search for "old man on a pink bicycle" and found it right away. Now I can print it and put it in the new wallet Hollis gave me for Christmas!

Adventure by Train: Scenery, Sunflowers, and a Reservoir

Last Saturday we went on a fun train trip adventure up north. In December, the Thai Railway offers a special day-trip train for 270 baht ($9) for an adult and 150 ($5) for a child. I thought it would be a fun way to get out of the city and see some of the countryside. Not having a car makes it difficult for us to go places and get back within a day, so this was a perfect opportunity.

Since the train left at 6:40 am and we were supposed to be there early, we woke up before it was light. I packed the diaper bag, lunch, and boiled eggs for breakfast the night before, so we could just get up, get dressed, and head out. Since public transportation doesn't run regularly before 6 o'clock, we hired a taxi driver that we know to take us; we did not want to miss the train! There wasn't much traffic on the roads yet, so the it was a pleasant trip to the Hua Lomphong Train Station. We arrived in plenty of time, so we found a place to sit and eat our breakfast. Before long, it was time to board the train. Car 5 was near the front, so we practiced counting backwards from 15. Hollis was thoroughly confused, but Meriel did well. We sat in the first available seats where 49/50 where written on the wall in barely visible orange scrawls while Philip went to see if he could decipher 11/12, 13/14, 15. He managed to find our correct seats, so we relocated and waited for the ride to begin.

We were the only farang (white people) on our car, so Simeon quickly won the hearts of all around us by toddling around and smiling at everyone. The people in the seats across the aisle passed out guava and dried fish to the girls. When the train started, the girls were excited to wear long sleeve shirts, since it was a cool morning and a breeze came through the open windows. It seemed to take a long time before the train finally got out of Bangkok. The trained passed by numerous shacks nearly touching the track, where children played in the gravel of the railroad and we smelled the smoke of many breakfasts cooking. We marveled at the huge cement and steel columns being erected to continue the skytrain line to the north part of the city, scheduled to open in five years. The number of cement structures slowly diminished, until it seem the city was finally behind us.

Gradually I noticed the sky was a deeper, clearer shade of blue and green fields dotted with stilted houses spread out on either side of the track. We saw egrets, cranes, swallows, and numerous birds we could not name. Thai cows and even one donkey grazed lazily, not even looking up as we passed. Tall, silvery feathered cattails waved in the sunlight; swampy marshes opened up into dark pools. I thought, this is a Thailand I could learn to love in a way I can never be at home in the city. Being out in the country gave me hope for our future, our dream to live and serve in rural Thailand. The time is not now, and God has helped me learn to be content in the city, but one day when He leads us out, I will be ready.

People dozed as the rocking of the train lulled them to sleep. Philip tried to sleep, but Meriel and Hollis both wanted to rest in his lap and that made it too difficult to get comfortable. Just north Saraburi, a man with a megaphone walked through the train, announcing our first stop where we would have 40 minutes to explore the sunflower fields. Everyone was wide awake, grabbing cameras and hats. The girls were eagerly looking out the window for their first glimpse. Then we saw it, a waving field of sunflowers, all lifting their faces toward the train. Now Thai variety sunflowers are not quite as tall as those seen in the United States (somehow everything is bigger in the U.S.), but they are still taller than Eris and quite impressive to small children.

Once we entered the field, we let the kids wander through the tall stalks. Simeon found the walking rough and was constantly stopped by people wanting their picture taken with him, so he didn't make it very far. Eris had her camera and went farthest afield, pausing to take pictures as she fancied. She had her fair share of photos taken of her as well. Meriel was worried about not being able to find her way out, so stayed close to Daddy or Mommy. Hollis ran off a little too far sometimes but was easy to spot by the crowd of people around her. If the object of a photo was not a sunflower, it was likely it was one of our children. I walked through the field to an area with flowers that were slightly taller than I; I would have liked to go deeper in those flowers but had to turn around to keep track of my sweet children.

Eris and I looked at the flower heads and noted the black spots that would turn into seeds. We saw some little caterpillars on the biggest heads and a tiny ladybug with no spots. We were not quite finished exploring when the train blew its whistle to warn us to re-board. We were on to our next location of interest. Even though it was only about 10:30, we were really hungry so we got out our treat of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We finished off most of the cucumber and carrot sticks and were licking potato chip crumbs off our fingers when we started across the long train bridge over the Pasak Jolasid Reservoir. The reservoir was so big that Eris decided it to call it the "Thai Lake Eerie." I think there must be strict regulations regarding its use, because I did not see a single boat on the water. I did spot one man walking through the edge of the water tending to a traditional fishing trap of net wrapped around poles stuck in the mud. The train stopped on the bridge, and we were able to get off. We diligently watched the children while enjoying the breeze and views.

Back on the train, we finished crossing the bridge then waited in the next station for the engine to move to the other side to take us back across the reservoir. The final stop of the trip was 90 minutes at the Pasak Jolasid Dam. The girls climbed on the boulders at the edge of the water, had a rock throwing contest, and watched huge catfish feed on chunks of bread. We caught a little tram for a trip over the dam, pointing out the difference in water level on either side and the hydroelectric works. Arriving back, we had just enough time for the kids to run off some energy and for some ice cream cones before heading back to the station.

The trip home was relaxing. Simeon slept, Philip rested, the girls looked quietly out the window. I once again enjoyed the scenery, noticing the mountains Khao Yai National Park in the distance along with some hills and smaller rock formations nearby. We alit at Bang Sue station, which is nearer our home and took the subway to our Lat Phrao station. We finished the day with a meal at restaurant we'd not tried before and made it home to get some exhausted, but happy, children in bed.

Immigration Day

Yesterday, we had to go to the huge immigration office at Chang Wattana to renew our visas for another year. We managed to avoid this place last year because it was the site of a large protest. A number of other offices had been opened throughout the city. Our part of the city has fewer foreigners, so our local branch was not as busy and made for a relative easy trip. This same office remained open after the protests were squelched, and we are thankful to be able to do our "90 day report" at this location. However, visa renewal is not a service offered there, so we headed off to the land of the long wait.

We looked up all the information we could find to be as prepared as possible for an exhausting day. We read that it was immensely beneficial to be at the doors at opening time. With this in mind, we used a taxi "radio service" the night before to arrange for a taxi to be at our front gate at 7:30 am. Even in the normal morning rush hour traffic, we should have arrived before the 8:30 am opening. However, at 7:00 am the service called to say a taxi was not in the area, so one would not be coming. I thought the whole purpose of calling ahead was so that a taxi would be "in the area," specifically on our street at a certain time. There was nothing we could do about it now, except for to try to hurry and get out of the house a little earlier. Unfortunately, everyone was still sleepy from a busy weekend and not wanting to be rushed. We left the house right on time at 7:30 to walk to the bus stop. When we don't want a taxi (this is the third time we've taken one), available ones are all over the place. This particular morning, they all seemed to be occupied. We decided to take a bus to the end of the skytrain line, where taxis usually wait for fares.

When bus number 122 was two stops away from where we wanted to be, we heard a loud explosion and the engine died. The driver attempted a couple of restarts, unsuccessfully. We all filed off the bus. Another bus was not in view, but we were right next to a subway station. We took the subway one stop and finally able to get a taxi to take us where we wanted to go. The taxi was clean and had working seat-belts! He also started the meter without any argument. He was a very friendly man, and Philip was able to practice some Thai on the trip. Traffic was bad, and Philip asked if it was usual traffic or if it was due to the upcoming holidays; it was just the every day traffic. We arrived at the correct building without further incident.

We walked in the doors of the office at 8:45 am - not too bad, considering all the unplanned travel of our morning. Fortunately, Philip had found the correct forms and filled out all the paperwork at home the night before; the officials would not give a queue ticket until the paperwork was complete. We were number 69-74. Philip had been told that the officials took a lunch break at number 70 regardless of what time it was. We settled down for the long wait. At first, we had six chairs all together. The girls drew and worked on Christmas activity sheets I had printed from Focus on the Family. They hadn't eaten much breakfast, so we started in on the snacks early: banana chips, crackers, fruit. A large open area was nearby, so the kids were able to play there. Philip invented a game where one person walked a path on the lines of the floor and another watched carefully and then walked the same path. Hollis created simple, logical paths that all of us older than Meriel could follow. Meriel would start out correctly but would get confused at the first or second turn. Meriel wandered on complicated routes, making random squares and backtracking. No one could successfully follow her. When we tired of this, Philip read to the girls from a book of American Tall Tales, while I chased Simeon around the room, keeping him out off "Staff Only" places.

At noon, the officials were on number 60. A man came through, announcing that the entire area was closing for an hour. We packed our bags and went off to find lunch. Every person who worked in the entire, huge office complex, as well as everyone visiting those offices, was also on lunch break. We looked around the building for a bit, letting the kids run and burn off some energy. When the lines had dwindled, we got lunch and headed back for the second part of our wait.

With only eight numbers ahead of us, I didn't want to unpack the bag. Eris got a piece of paper and scrunched it into a ball. Simeon chased it around while the girls threw and kicked it. Before our number was called, a person came around with a sign for 60-70. This started the process for checking our paperwork. The lady behind the desk was the same lady who had processed our visas at the other location a year ago! She definitely remembered us, and Philip recognized her. She was very friendly throughout the whole process. The letter from Philip's contact at Thammasat University apparently had the wrong wording, "visa application" instead of "visa extension." The Lord gave us grace from this woman and her boss, and they allowed us to use the letter instead of requiring us to get a corrected one. We also had copies of everything required. We had prepared copies of everything we could think of - birth certificates, marriage certificate, death certificate of our great grandmothers - but sometimes they still think of something else. This time we were set.

After the paperwork check, we had to pay for the visas and have our pictures taken. By this time, everyone was fussy and tired. Hollis kept slipping off the chairs and getting minor injuries accompanied by loud crying. Meriel did not want her sisters to touch her and was having a hard time not completely breaking down. She displayed extraordinary control, and we were able to help her use her words to tell us how she was feeling. She looked at the camera when it was her turn, but we told her she did not have to smile. The lady told me that I could take the kids out of the office to the waiting area while Philip completed the last step of approval (we hoped) of the visas. When we had our visas in hand, we thanked God for His provision and that we wouldn't have to do this again for another year.

The trip home by bus, then skytrain, then bus was uneventful. We had an early supper, Christmas cookies for dessert, and I was in bed shortly by 9:30 pm. Meriel prayed that everyone would sleep late in the morning; a prayer not be answered, however. Maybe we'll all go to bed early again tonight.

Bangkok Christmas Tree Adventure

We picked today to be our Christmas Tree Day. I was raised in a "live tree" family, so it is difficult for me to imagine Christmas with a fake tree. Last year, we were offered the use of a fake tree. Since we had just moved a couple weeks before, were just staying in a guest house, and didn't have an inkling of how to go about getting a live tree, we accepted. But this year was time for a real tree or bush. Even in Beersheva (Israel), we went to the nursery and picked out a small, potted evergreen tree. It held about a fifth of our ornaments, but fulfilled our desire for a real tree. We were able to use the same tree for the three Christmases we were there. In Indiana, we would bundle up and drive to the tree farm. When we arrived, we would scatter and each pick a likely candidate. Then we would run back and forth between them, weighing the pros and cons of each, before voting on the one we would take home.

This year did not include bundling of any sort. We did have to make sure everyone had clothes and sandals on before walking to the bus stop. Only 145 or 96 would take us to the Kampheng Phet Road where we had previously noted a long row of plant shops. As we waited, Philip and I discussed how to tell the ticket person where we were going. On an air-conditioned bus, the fare depends on how many stops a person rides, and it can be difficult for us to communicate something like "the garden stores just south of Jatujak Market." When a number 145 did arrive, we were a bit relieve to see it was a non-air bus.

When we were near the place we wanted to get off the bus, I stood up and pressed the stop button. I saw a stop ahead for which the bus driver should have been able to slow down in time; he kept going. We had gotten all the kids up, ready to hop off the bus, since drivers won't stop for long. We just stood, hanging on to the rails, looking questioningly at the driver. He stopped at a red light, preparing for a u-turn. He gestured to us that he was turning around, which I knew was part of the route. I figured that he hadn't wanted the hassle of stopping at the designated stop, then trying to cross three lanes of traffic in the short distance before the stoplight. He would rather us have the inconvenience of crossing six lanes of bad traffic on foot, but he would stop shortly after the u-turn. But he did not stop after the u-turn; in fact, he was driving quite fast. I saw another bus stop approaching and pushed the button to indicate that we still wanted to get off the bus. He wouldn't stop; he started saying something and gesturing. I couldn't figure out what was going on. Usually when a bus driver skips a stop because they are making good time and don't want to slow down, he will at least stop at the next one. Before the long, the bus stopped at a light, and I expected that the driver would open the door to let us off even if it wasn't an actually stop, since he had inconvenienced us by taking us a ways past where we wanted to go. I was still standing by the door waiting, so when he didn't open the door, I pushed the button to remind him that we wanted off.  Either he thought he knew where we wanted to go (bus drivers have refused to let us on buses before because they think we are going someplace where tourists go) and was trying to tell us to stay on the bus to get there, or he was grumpy and in a hurry and only wanted to let people of at certain stops. After a brief argument, where he wouldn't let us off the bus and Philip kept saying (in Thai) "We want off here!", he finally opened the doors and we jumped off as quickly as we could.

Things like that happen frequently here, so Philip and I have learned not to let them ruin our trips. We took the girls' hands and started back to the pedestrian overpass to cross the busy road. Once on the correct side of the street, we began to browse through the plants. We were looking for a tree or bush in a pot with enough to sturdy branches to hang lights and some ornaments. We did not expect to find an evergreen or anything resembling a traditional Christmas tree. But before we had looked long, we did see an evergreen! We continued to look around for some seeds and other gardening supplies and found a few other evergreens. I'm not well versed enough in trees and plants to know what kind they were, but they were certainly more "Christmassy" than we had expected. Some were certainly to small, others were in ceramic pots that were likely to be too heavy and expensive, nearly all were skinny. We found one in a plastic pot that was about the right size and asked the price - 650 baht (about $20) - about what we had been paying in the States for a tree, albeit a larger one. Delivery was too expensive but the saleslady said a taxi should allow it.

After we finished buying some vegetable and flower seeds, Philip went back to buy the tree and negotiate a taxi. As of now, we have decided that in general buses are safer than taxis (a possible future blog post about traveling "safely" in Thailand), so the kids and I had an uneventful bus ride home. We arrived to find the tree, a little bent from fitting it in the taxi, in our yard. After preparing to accept another sort of plant, we are so excited to actually have a real live Christmas tree! We decorated it after supper. Philip tied some string to the top and affixed it to the ceiling with sticky-tack, so it could hold ornaments and stay upright. I agree with the girls, "It is the most beautiful tree in the world!"

While enjoying Christmas music from internet radio with the lights on the tree while I was stringing more lights are the room, Eris said, "Mommy, I feel something I haven't felt in a long time... I feel like home." "Me too, Eris," I replied, "Me too."

Surviving the Heat

Living in a hot climate takes some getting used to. Upon arriving the of November last year, we were pleasantly surprised with the temperatures, remarking that it was not as uncomfortably hot as we expected. Of course, last year happened to be a record cool season in Bangkok. We were happy to escape the freezing temperatures of Indiana and miss the snowstorms that hit the region last year. This year, the kids would all be very happy to see some snow, and I would enjoy snuggling in a favorite sweatshirt and blanket to read and drink hot cocoa. Instead, I relax in the coolness of 79 degrees and dwell on the features of living somewhere that is never cold.

I don't feel like we have gotten used to the heat, although I'm sure we have acclimatized to some extent. Rather, I think we have become resigned to being hot. Most days, I am hot nearly all day. The only days not like this are water park days, but even then, I'm hot on the trip there and on the way home. On some of the most unbearable days, I put on a t-shirt over two piece swimsuit and soaked myself with the hose before making supper. I would be dry, and so would the concrete floor of the outdoor kitchen, before I finished chopping vegetables. One evening last weekend, I noted to Philip that I had not been hot all day. I should have looked up the temperatures for that day, but the high was probably low 90's and had gotten down to low 80's in the evening. Although the (relatively) cooler temperatures contributed some to my not being hot, the main reason had to so with the fact that I had sat in front of a fan most of the day. It was a Pizza Company night, so I had not cooked at all; I had not had to hang laundry that particular day; and we had not gone anywhere, so I hadn't had the extra heat of carrying Simeon in the baby-carrier.

When at all possible, we live with fans pointed at us. It makes the heat bearable and reduces sweating. We have learned some lessons about living with fans. First of all, turn the fan off rotate before refilling the flour or sugar container, unless of course, you desire a fan dusting throughout your kitchen. When making tortillas, kneading dough, or some other activity that requires a floured surface, I have decided that flour on the floor is worth not adding large quantities of salt in the form of sweat to the food. I point the fan away from the main floured area but where I can still receive a good amount of airflow. Another lessons is turn off the fan before lighting birthday candles. We had to relight candles for the first couple birthdays of the season before we started remembering to do this first. Third, beware of flying paper. During school, we always have a bunch of items available for weighing down the corners of workbooks and papers. Many times, we look for a paper we knew was there a moment ago, only to see Simeon delightedly crumpling it or, worse, tearing it to pieces. The girls usually just turn off the fan before starting a craft project. The pages of most books I read are not susceptible to being blown by the fan, but I have to be careful with the angle I hold my Bible in relation to the fan.

Our children used to wear clothes nearly all the time except for during baths. Now it's common to see a naked or nearly naked Cardin running through the house or garden. We've made a rule that they have to wear clothes to go out the gates, so as not to shock our neighbors, and for meals. It would be great if this meant less laundry but instead it tends to generate more. Hollis wakes up in the morning, often without clothes on. She took off her pajamas in the night because she got too hot. These pajamas need to be washed because they are too sweaty to wear again. She gets dressed before breakfast. Shortly after breakfast, she goes outside to play. By the time she comes back inside, she is topless. She is supposed to only shed clothes in the house so they don't get left in the yard and forgotten about until they are starting to decompose. I remind her of this and tell her to go get her shirt from outside. She puts on a dress before she goes outside again. A little while later, she asks if she can play in the water. I say yes, so she takes all her clothes off and runs to play in the water. When she comes back inside, she is "cold" and puts on a whole new set of clothes. If I catch her in time, I make her put the other ones on instead. By the end of the day, there is a whole pile of clothes that are not that dirty but not clean enough to be put away. If I try to save them out to wear another day, we often forget and it just make the house look more cluttered than it is already. So I just do lots of laundry.

Since Simeon cannot dress himself, he does end up wearing fewer clothes. A couple nights ago, I decided to put a shirt on him for bed since I thought he might have gotten a little too cool the night before. He was already for bed, wanting to snuggle and nurse. When I put the shirt on him, he got a big grin on his face and headed for the door. I realized, for him, putting a shirt on means going somewhere; usually, he's just in a diaper and maybe shorts to protect the cover.

The girls became attached to their blankets when we lived in a cooler climate and with central air conditioning. They still want to sleep with them on every night. Meriel especially likes to snuggle with her blanket whenever she gets hurt, in trouble, or sleepy. Hollis will often fall asleep for a nap completely wrapped up in her blanket. If we had been able to look into the future, maybe we could have guided the girls toward lightweight blankets. By the time we packed for Thailand, their favorites were set and had to be brought. Simeon has a very nice soft blanket that is stored in a cupboard. It may get cool enough to get it out for a few weeks. I doubt his security object will ever be a blanket.

While we don't completely abstain from soups and chili, we certainly don't get the satisfaction out of such foods that we would if we were eating them on a cool autumn evening or after an afternoon of romping in the snow. I have plans for hot cocoa and warm homemade vanilla pudding on the first night feels "cold" to our heat-adjusted minds. We might have to take a cold shower first to get the full effect. I really hope that I can wear my hooded sweatshirt once this season. Maybe some night, we'll shut up the bedroom doors, turn on the air condition full blast, and pretend it's winter. After we open the doors and windows, we'll be happy to shed our sweatshirts and be thankful that we don't have to shovel snow.

An Evening of Entertainment: Bangkok Street Show

Come away with me to a place where no mopeds rush by on the sidewalks and the smells of exhaust from a hundred passing buses and taxis fade away. Join us in a place of music and dancing, silly tricks and breathtaking stunts. This is Lumpini Park Bangkok Street Show!

Yesterday, we all hopped on the subway for a mini-adventure. On a regular late-afternoon, Lumpini Park is a green oasis with meandering paths, lush lawns, relaxing waterways, wandering monitor lizards. It's a great place to spend a cool season evening. Upon entering the park, we were met by a costumed troupe with drums. Right at 3:00, they starting drumming, dancing, and singing. The girls got to participate in portraying the story of planting fields of Korea. We continued through the park, stopping briefly to watch an Australian man jumping on a pogo stick pop a balloon with a fork stuck on top of his helmet. Our next stop was a slapstick magic show performed by a man from Florida. Meriel laughed and laughed as he produced more and more red foam balls from his mouth. Eris magically made an egg disappear and reappear from a small sack. In return, she received a little balloon mouse. Philip was intrigued by the flying table.

We met some beautiful, graceful twelve-foot tall ladies in long flowing skirts. Eris said they looked like giant Barbie dolls. Simeon just stared; I had to pick him up to get him out of the way. Then we made our way to the next stop. Philip and the kids enjoyed robot dancing and juggling from Japan while I browsed the Lumpini Public Library. My goal was to find a few beginning reader books for me to practice my Thai. The girls later told me that I missed most of the best show - juggling fire sticks, balancing a ladder on his chin, tricks with a Chinese yo-yo. I returned in time to watch him climb a freestanding ladder, then juggle while balancing at the top.

By this time, everyone was hungry. On the way to the main entrance of the park, a performing group was completely covered in make-up. Philip wondered at their nationality, commenting how difficult it was to tell; he guessed Greek. After looking it up later, I discovered it was an Israeli show called "Stones." A little later we settled on a grassy slope with our khao neow (sticky rice), moo ping (roasted pork on a stick), fried drumsticks, and watermelon. As we ate, me marveled at a Japanese man spinning a teacup around on top of a paper parasol. Later he held a closed fan in his mouth and balanced the teapot on top of that. We were about to walk back through the park to the subway station, when we noticed some aerial acrobatics. It is pretty amazing what these people can do with some serious core body strength and a long, dangling piece of fabric. We were just in time for the finale where a man rolled down the entire length, starting thirty feet in the air and stopping just before hitting the ground.

We enjoyed a well lit park and a cool breeze as we headed for the exit. We watched a mime act, the first part a of a Thai percussion band show, and a bit more Chinese yo-yo-ing on the way out. Just in front of the exit, the Korean group was getting ready for another show. We waved good-bye to them just before slipping back into the traffic and pollution directly outside the park gates.

Have and Have Not

In the world of have and have nots, I am definitely in the "haves" category. Living in a part of the world in which so many go without, I am thankful for electricity, running water, roof over my head, and plenty of food. I even have my very own washing machine, large refrigerator, two burner stove, and water filter. And I haven't even mentioned the computer, iPad, and cellphone. Today's post is honestly not to complain about what I do not have but to share a bit about what life is like without some items which are considered basic in many Western homes and maybe help us all appreciate a bit what we have or don't, as the case may be.

Dryer: I am thankful to not have a clothes dryer, because this way I am forced to use the free energy of the sun to dry our clothes. When we lived in the States, I had an underused clothes line. Sure, on nice summer days, I did hang out diapers and the occasional load of clothes, but only when no rain was forecast for the next three days, I didn't want to wear a wet clothes item within the day, I wasn't running low on clean diapers, I had enough time to hang the diapers, and I was going to be around to make sure the dog didn't tear them off the line. Needless to say, the necessary events didn't happen very often. I always had the much simpler option of throwing clothes straight from the washing machine into the adjacent dryer, then pushing a button. Here, if I want clean, dry clothes, I need to find a place to hang them regardless of the weather. When we have a bunch of cloudy, rainy days in a row, a rack of diapers can be found in front of the fan and another rack of clothes in an out of the way spot, plus various items hung on the backs of chairs. Eris and I have learned to look at the clouds and predict how soon the rain will hit, to leave the clothes outside for the maximum time. We've gotten so good that most times the first raindrops hit the ground as we are carrying the full laundry basket into the house.

 Car: This is another easy one for me to be grateful to not have. As anyone who has had car trouble (and who has not?) will tell you, cars are a hassle. They cost a lot of money to maintain, fuel costs too much, and when we own one, we tend to drive more and walk less. In Bangkok, foreigners with cars are often stopped for small (or made up) infractions and asked to pay a fine (aka bribe). Plus, I would not want to drive in this crazy traffic. Taking public transportation has helped me to better learn the city and the city to better get to know us; just ask anybody in our neighborhood about the white family with four children and he/she will immediately know who you are talking about. Yes, taking buses everywhere is a hassle and takes twice as long, but we experience a big part of living in Bangkok this way.

Microwave: When we saw a $3 microwave at a garage sale in Terre Haute, it was hard to turn down. It worked for the four years we lived there, although by the time we moved only two buttons could get it to run and we couldn't read the screen. I always wondered if microwaves were maybe not good for people, but the ease of popping something in and pushing a few buttons to get warm food pushed the fears aside. I was similarly willing to eat lukewarm food for the convenience. Without a microwave, I now have the option to use a pan (which I will have to wash later) to warm something up or eat it cold. With two burners, I can warm up two things at once, which is helpful for leftover meals, and the food stays hot longer than if it were heated in a microwave. So this is overall a plus, but if given the option, I might spend $3 on a microwave.

Central Air Conditioning: Bangkok is the hottest city in the world; it doesn't have the highest temperatures but the average highs and lows for the whole year are the highest. This basically means that it is never cool here. Last year the city experienced a record 30-year low of 60 degrees Farenheit (15.5 degrees Celsius). We live with fans pointed at us when at all possible. We do have air condition units in our bedrooms and in one upstairs, but we rarely use them. If we had central air conditioning, we would like use it more often and then never want to leave the house. Without central air, we (at least our children) have because more acclimatized to the heat. It's easier to leave the house and take a non-air conditioned bus or shop in an open market, because we are used to being in that kind of environment. Our house is opened to sunlight and breezes (and little critters); we live in a more open and less controlled environment.

Dishwasher: Now we are getting into things that are a bit harder for me to thankful not to have. My mother did not want a dish washer, so I grew up with wrinkled fingers and a distaste for washing dishes. I have always wanted a dishwasher, dreaming of the time it would save. How wonderful to simply put dishes in a machine, push a few buttons (similar to a clothes dryer), and come back to clean dishes. It was not to be, I have yet to live in a home with a dishwasher. (There have been a few temporary homes in which we have lived for a month or two with dishwashers, and those have been great!) Really though, it doesn't take terribly long to wash dishes from a meal, and often I can wash the dishes from preparing a meal while it finishes cooking. Eris is old enough to help sometimes, and Philip washes up after supper. This is another area where it is simple to save energy by not owning an appliance.

Running Hot Water: I have running water in more than one place in my house: nine spigots in five rooms to be exact, so I really have no cause to complain. It is really not necessary to have running hot water. Most people, including us, wash dishes in cold water. Every once in awhile we will heat water on the stove to get an obstinate spot off a pot or to wipe the counter with hot water. Actually, the water from the tap is not cold, it's lukewarm, which is a fine temperature for a shower most days in this climate. Our bathrooms do have little electric on-demand hot water heaters that heat water as you use it for a shower. The water doesn't get very hot, but it's enough to take the chill off on the few cool days of the year. I do look forward to one day being in a cool climate and enjoying a hot shower, but for now I can live without this.

Oven: If I were given the option of choosing one thing on this list to have, I would pick an oven. I really like to bake and I like to eat baked goods. Thai culture does not traditionally bake, so baked goods are not as readily available and what can be found tastes very different. We never know when we will find a piece of hot dog in the middle of sweet bread or a red bean pancake. The younger children have adapted to the new sweets, but Philip, Eris, and I still remember the superior (to our minds) baked goods of America. I have found a way to "bake" using a cast iron skillet, a brick, and a large metal pan, but it's definitely not the same. If I had an oven, we would have freshly baked bread, cake, cookies, and casseroles more often. It's probably just as well that we don't have these around more often. I can be thankful that I've had the opportunity to experiment and learn how to cook foods without relying on an oven. But someday, when we can afford it, I'd sure like to have an oven.
 

Jesse Tree: God's Relationship with People from Adam to Jesus

The tradition of having a Jesse Tree is becoming more prominent amongst people I know. It is a unique "advent calendar" designed to help young children understand the significance of Jesus' birth. The name comes from Isaiah 11:1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots, referring to the Messiah. Children who grow up in Christian families learn the story of Christmas at a young age. They know that Jesus is God's son come to earth as a baby. The older ones can even connect this story to the Easter story and realize that the miracle of the resurrection started with the birth. Not many children understand God's relationship with people for the the thousands of years before Jesus' birth. Recognizing man's sinful nature and the inability of humans to keep the covenant of the Law, helps children (and adults) come to a deeper understanding of this momentous occasion.

After reading the Torah (first five books of the Bible) in fifteen days as part of the reading the entire book is ninety days, I had a more complete picture of how the Old Testament and the New Testament told one united story. I wanted to share this with my children at their level. I also wanted to help them know and understand a few full Bible stories, rather than a cursory awareness of many. To this end, I planned weekly lessons starting with Creation and ending with Haggai. We focused on God's relationship with people through in depth studies of Creation, Adam and Eve, Abraham, Isaac and Rebekah, Moses, David, Hezekiah, and Haggai. In order to really understand these characters, we had to skip many of the big stories of the Old Testament. I was fine with this decision because the girls were already familiar with many of these stories, and we could study them in depth at a later time. Meriel and Eris truly seemed to gain a more profound understanding of God's character and how He reached out to man over the years. It was exciting to watch.

I came across the idea of the Jesse Tree through searching for ways to teach young children the Old Testament prophesies of Jesus' birth. I thought it would be a great way to reinforce the Bible lessons of the past months and emphasize God's plan of Jesus in the Old Testament. I found many different plans on the internet, including various stories and using different symbols for representation. I chose one that included the stories we had studied and others that resonated with me. We have changed some of the symbols to ones that were easier to make or the girls understood better. I had planned to get felt to make the ornaments and tree out of, but I couldn't find it here. Instead, I bought a few big pieces of foam, glue, glitter, and paperclips. I helped the girls cut ornaments out of foam; they colored and decorated them with glitter. Each day we attach a symbol to our foam tree with a paperclip. It's not fancy, but the girls are excited about the Jesse Tree every day. They are proud that they made the ornaments and enthusiastically announce who made which one. 

Each day we discuss a story. The girls are able to tell me the story and often times its significance related to Jesus. It is fun for me to hear how they remember these stories and are able to retell them. Sometimes they will even remember the Bible verse we memorized for the story! Hollis related Genesis 1:1 when we talked about Creation. Eris told the story of Abraham's Sacrifice of Isaac complete with the verse, "And in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed because you have obeyed My voice" and told me that this was talking about Jesus. I look forward to the remaining days of Advent and how Jesus is revealed to my children daily.

Blending Christmas Traditions

Holidays are enriched by traditions; there is something special about doing the same thing once a year, every year. Linking the past to the future, they give us something to look forward to and memories to treasure. Growing up, my parents carefully crafted Christmas traditions to remind us of the Reason for the Season: sitting around the advent wreath, opening stockings on St. Nicholas Day, a neighborhood birthday party for Jesus. My husband's family specialized in traditions of spontaneity: waking up early on Christmas morning to open stockings, a sweet sticky breakfast, playing together with new toys and games in the afternoon.

Our first Christmas together was spent thousands of miles from either of our families, so we had the distinct opportunity to establish our own set of traditions. I explained to Philip the idea of Advent as looking forward to Christ's birth and helping us to remember why we celebrate Christmas. I also described the fun of opening stockings on December 6th, a way of spreading out the gifts of Christmas and commemorating the real person behind Santa Claus. Since Philip hadn't really thought much about how his boyhood Christmases were celebrated, he agreed to include these traditions our own set. Our first Christmas was simple. Philip's brother called to wake us up early; he had always been the early riser in their family. Then I made cinnamon rolls for a special breakfast. I'm pretty sure we went back to bed before spending the rest of the day just relaxing and enjoying time together. We took our dog for a walk to play with other dogs at the park in the evening. I don't remember for sure, but we probably stayed up playing games together or reading side by side.

Once we had children, keeping traditions became even more important. By doing the advent wreath, we were really teaching our children the significance of Christmas rather than just reminding ourselves. After a few years of St. Nicholas Day stockings, Philip mentioned to me that he wanted to share with our children the joy of opening a stocking on Christmas morning. He very much has fond memories of this part of the celebration. I outwardly agreed, since it would be selfish to insist on all of my traditions and none of my husbands, but in my heart I was reluctant. After all, nearly everyone opens stockings on Christmas morning; I enjoyed being part of a different group of people who celebrated St. Nicholas instead of Santa Claus. It seemed more cultured to have each item in the stocking mean something: something for warmth, a food item, chocolate money, etc. After pondering and fuming for a few days around December 6th, I realized that my children still knew about the story of St. Nicholas and were just as excited about stockings Christmas morning despite the dozens of other presents to be opened that same day. The spirit of Christmas is all about giving, and I could joyously give the gift of Christmas morning stockings to my husband. Besides, I was getting a little tired of finding little wooden trinkets to put in the stockings every year.

One of my favorite family traditions is one that started our first Christmas without our really knowing it. We spent this holiday in our own little home in Beersheva, Israel. Ironically, the country in which the miracle of Christmas took place does not celebrate it. Christmas is my favorite holiday, and to make up for the lack of Christmas cheer in the rest of the city, I decorated our house lavishly. We went to the local plant nursery and found an evergreen tree in a pot. As it was only three feet tall, it did not fit nearly all our ornaments on it, but I found a creative way to hang the rest. I didn't think we had enough decorations for the walls, so I started drawing and coloring pictures of Christmas trees, snowmen, and stockings. Philip joined in the spirit, and together we used nearly all our brick red crayon to make a "chimney" for our stockings.

Amidst all this creativity, Philip made a picture of a snowman sliding at a playground. He titled it, "What Snowmen Do While We are Sleeping." Inspired, the next evening, I drew a picture of a snowman sledding down a hill. Each year thereafter, we drew snowmen pictures to add to the collection. Anyone who is with us for Christmas is invited to join in. My mother has contributed several and my brother has two. The girls have joined us when they have turned two. We now have so many, that it is hard to keep track of who has done which picture and in which year (especially among the ones drawn by two-year-olds). Last year, we wrote the name and date on the back, but I wish we had done this from the beginning. Each year, we hang the pictures on the wall and smile at the silly scenes: Daddy's snowman roasting a hot dog, Grandma's shopping at "Bal-Mart," Mommy's jumping on the trampoline. Daddy's are most creative; Mommy's all have one of the snowmen with his hat falling off. The days before we draw our new picture are filled with private musings over what we will do this year; it must remain a surprise until we all show our completed pictures.

Tonight was our annual "Snowmen" drawing evening. Simeon scribbled in his high chair for awhile. Hollis drew a snow-baby trying to run off with a snow-mother trying to catch him. Meriel's was a snowman roasting a mango over the fire. Eris made a snow-ballet class. Mommy's is a snowman drawing "What People Do While We are Sleeping." Daddy's is a Bangkok snowman in front of the fan. So now we have five new pictures, we have two candles lit on our advent wreath, next week we will go to the garden market to search for a suitable Christmas "tree," and we are looking forward to stockings and cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. Throughout it all the purpose behind traditions is upheld: we share joy as a family and keep Jesus as the center of our home.

Father's Day Book Review

December 5th is the King of Thailand's birthday and also Father's Day. Our family has a tradition of giving books to Daddy on Father's Day, starting with Pumpkin Soup on Eris's first. This year, I had to rely on online book lists and ratings to choose books that were available from an online company in the UK with free shipping to Thailand. It is difficult to pick excellent books without actually flipping through them. After spending too much time on the internet, I picked a handful of books for the girls to choose from and hoped for the best. Even bookstores in the States can have a paucity of really great picture books, so I thought today I'd review the books we gave for Father's Day this year and then a few of our favorites from previous years. I've learned that when relying on others' reviews, it's hard to truly get an idea of the book. The books we got this year all had rave reviews, and, as you will see, they are not as wonderful as they were portrayed. I find it helpful to hear from people I actually know, as I already have an idea of their tastes and points of reference. So hopefully, this will be helpful for some.

Warning: these reviews contain mild spoilers, so if you are the kind who likes to be surprised, you may want to skip this post.

Eris knows that Philip likes books with great pictures. He does enjoy books without words, especially, but she wasn't quite ready to go that far in her choice. She picked Salamander Room by Anne Mazer which was reported to have excellent illustrations and be a sweet story about a boy turning his room into a home for a salamander. It does live up to this description but lacks depth in the story. For an avid reader, the storyline is too brief without enough description in the text. Also, the back cover reports that the theme of the book is "nature and conservation," but then Philip was confused by the seemingly pointless blank green pages, two in the front and two in the back. Overall, it's not a bad book but because of a small budget and lack of a large English library, we are pickier that most in our selection. Meriel did ask me to read it at bedtime; we'll see how this weathers over time.

Meriel chose a sequel to one of our favorite books. When I was pregnant with Eris, Philip and I read about how tiny children seem to best enjoy books that were read to them while in the womb. Books with good rhyme and meter seemed to be preferred. We headed off to the bookstore and searched the tiny children's English book section (we were living in Beersheva, Israel), and amazingly, discovered The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson. Complete with spectacular rhythm, engaging storyline, and lovely ending, we have read this book so many times that we all (with the exception of Simeon) have it memorized. With this in mind, I was happy to disregard negative reviews for The Gruffalo's Child. I would say owning this book is worth it to enjoy a continuation of the story of a little mouse's innovation in outsmarting the scary gruffaloes. But beware, the rhythm and rhyme are abysmal compared with the first, and the storyline lacking in fresh ideas. It seems that, award of the success of the first book, the authors and publishers were content with a decidedly sub par book because they knew it would make money. I hesitate to support it if this is the case, and hope that it is not, so just beware if you buy this book.

Hollis is at the age where she enjoys repetition and silliness, so she chose a book titled Don't Forget the Bacon! by Pat Hutchins. The reviews reported children laughing aloud and repeating "Don't forget the bacon!" enthusiastically. None of that happened on our first read. The illustrations lack detail and add little to the story, which is a pity since the storyline could use some help. The boy is given a verbal grocery list by his mother:  "Six farm eggs, a cake for tea, a pound of pears, and don't forget the bacon!" The boy proceeds to think of "six fat legs which turns into six clothes pegs." So when he arrives at the store, he gets six clothes pegs, a rake for leaves, and a pile of chairs. The items he actually gets are not that funny and it is a bit difficult for a small child to remember the comparison with what he was asked to get. Hollis was so excited about this book and it's silly title, but she did not giggle during the whole reading of the book, which is unusual for her. There are so many books with similar themes out there; take the time to find Bedemolena by Jan Slepian and Ann Sleider which is out of print but worth the search.

When it came to choosing a book for Simeon to give, I wanted a board book so that he could actually enjoy it. He cares more about pictures than words, so it as an excellent opportunity to cater to Philip's penchant for books with few words. Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann proved to be just right. The pictures portray a funny, engaging story that can be "read" again and again. Hollis looked at it on her own four times in a row, laughing and talking to herself. This is one I would certainly recommend if you have children age five or under.

So now here's a short list of our Father's Day favorites:

Pumpkin Soup was another fortuitous find in a Beersheva bookstore. and its companions A Pipkin of Pepper and Delicious by Helen Cooper boast wonderfully bright and captivating illustrations accompanying witty, lyrical prose. All three stories feature the same characters and revolve around pumpkin soup yet are different enough to make it enjoyable to read all in a row or stand alone. These books are certainly worth owning; if you are looking for a gift for a child this Christmas, pick up one or all of these.

For a book written in a unique style where the combination of words and pictures are necessary to the story, look no further than The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood. This interactive read is a surprise the first time and a delight every time thereafter. This is another one that I would recommend owning versus just checking out at the library. The sequel Merry Christmas Big Hungry Bear is fun during this season and a fine addition to your Christmas collection but not nearly as wonderful.

The last books I'll write about today begin with Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy E. Shaw. This books in fun and silly with easy rhymes. Great for a quick read or some afternoon silliness. The rest of the books are similarly enjoyable, but once we had four, it seemed enough. We have Sheep in a Shop, Sheep on a Ship, and, my favorite, Ship Out to Eat.

I'll try to do some more book reviews at a later date, but hopefully this can get you started with some great reading soon. Let me know your favorite books or if your family love any of these books.

Toddler Understanding

It's been amazing to me lately to realize how much children can understand before they can speak. It makes sense that it is easier to figure out what someone else is saying than to try to formulate the words yourself. It is the same way when learning a second language. However, it often surprises me when Simeon reacts to something I've said.

Simeon is a late talker, partly due to the fact that he is being exposed to two languages. He didn't say his first word until almost 15 months, and while we think he says a few other words, we're not certain. As a first time mother, I remember being worried that Eris hadn't said her first word by the time she was a year old. Looking back, she was also exposed to two languages living in Israel, even though we only spoke English at home. Also, as a proud mother, I expected her to start talking early. I needn't have worried; shortly after her first birthday, she said her first word, and by the time she was 18 months, I counted a vocabulary of over 100 words including full sentences. So with the learning curves of two other children behind me, I am less worried about the rate of Simeon's acquisition of words and free to enjoy watching the process.

When I tell Simeon that I need to change his diaper and go lay down on the mat, he often will. In the evenings, I tell him it's time for a shower, and he gets excited and takes my hand to pull me to the bathroom door. Sometimes he screams and arches his back when I try to put him in his highchair, but if I ask him if he wants to eat a banana or an omelet (or something else he likes), he calms down and slips into his seat. This morning, he once again surprised me. He followed me into the bathroom, leaving the screen door open. I said, "Simeon, please close the door so that bugs don't get into the house." He turn right around and reached up to close the door. I clapped for him; his favorite form of positive reinforcement.

Simeon not only reacts to what I say but also to his sisters. He really enjoys laughing, and sometimes he'll laugh at something funny before anyone else does. Now I'm not always sure he understands why he's laughing, but he realizes that a certain tone of voice means that something is funny, especially if Hollis says it. In the evenings, Eris asks if he wants to go with her to listen to Daddy's bedtime song. Inevitably, even if he's nursing, he will go to her and lift his arms up. It is so sweet to me to watch my oldest daughter wrap her arms around her little brother and carry him to Daddy. When Hollis tells Simeon he can't have something she's playing with, he gets angry. Meriel mentioning the crayons are on the table will send him climbing on the chairs to get them. And my personal favorite, hurrying out the front door and closing it behind him as I say, "Simeon stay inside please!"

Simeon is also a master at context clues. When I put clothes from the washing machine into a laundry basket, he runs to the bottom of the stairs so I won't forget to take him up to the balcony to hang laundry with me. If he notices me getting dressed to go out, he will get clothes from his cupboard and bring them for me to put on him. He used to stand by his highchair while I set food on the table for a meal, but now he is too impatient and starts to climb on the table to get it himself. My current favorite is his excited dancing and babbling when he hears the vegetable truck coming down our alley.

Someday soon, I will get to enjoy Simeon's explanations just as I smile when Hollis, dressed up in a black skirted leotard and beret, says, "Mommy, I'm a mentor. Do you know what a mentor is? Someone who looks for millipedes!" And I look forward to his thoughtful questions like, "Why do people worship idols? How can we help them to love God?" from Meriel. Eventually, he will even be able to relate such puns as Eris's favorite from Alice in Wonderland, "Do you know why lessons are called lessons? Because they lessen from day to day!... Ten hours the first day, nine hours the next, and so on." (Yes, she has Reddington blood in her; my mother's family is famous for puns.) But at this moment, I am enjoying watching Simeon understand, and communicate with smiles, sweet noises, and hugs... lots of hugs!

"Christmas Bpen Wela": A Song About What?!

At Sunday school this past weekend, Eris's class was singing a Thai Christmas song. I knew it was a Christmas song because the first word was "Chritmat." (Thai does not have an "s" sound at the end of syllables; not so great for Eris and Hollis.) I've been trying to think of ways for us to learn more Thai, and thought it would be fun to help all the girls learn this song. Eris's teacher had handwritten the words in Thai for the students and one paper was transliterated into English characters for Eris, very thoughtful of her. After class, I asked for both versions, as I am trying to learn to speak Thai correctly through reading it.

Monday night, I set about the process of figuring out the words to the song. I didn't get a whole lot further than "Christmas." Philip purchased this great program for an iPad from which I have learned most of my Thai vocabulary. It's a dictionary that can provide English to Thai, English transliterated Thai to Thai with English definition, and Thai characters to English. I can even listen to the correct pronunciation of the words in Thai. I've been trying to learn how to hear the difference between tones this way. I still don't think I can tell the difference between dog and horse (maa high tone and maa rising tone) or many other words, but maybe it will come one of these days, or years. I thought that I could figure out the song using this program.

First of all, I had to read the characters. It appears that Thai like to write really small. Font on many food packages, flyers, maps, etc. is so small as to be illegible to us. I can barely make out the character, much less the microscopic tone and vowel mark above and below the consonant characters. I had the English transliteration to help me, but unless one has happened to be a foreigner and take a Thai class, she would not have a standard way of writing each sound. Just in the short first line, I made out that "bp" written "p"and "wela" was "vala." 

Secondly, Thai does not separate words in writing. The teacher had separate word written in English, but there was no guarantee that the spaces indicated a new word or just a new syllable. Thai also has a lot of compound words, so sometimes I think I know a word only to realize that it is part of a compound word with a different meaning. For example, I was reading a story and was excited that I knew the word "dog." I looked up the next word which was "wild." Ok, the story was about a wild dog; wrong, the compound word "dogwild" is the Thai word for wolf. So in this instance, I knew the first word was Christmas, but after that I didn't know if the next phrase was "bpen wela" or "bpenwela." Turns out that both are possible and neither made much sense literally: "Christmas is hour/time word" or "Christmas yearly."

Another difficulty is that Thai often uses the same word for a verb, noun, and adjective. Without a better command of the language, there is not a way to distinguish between frequent and frequently or to guard and a guard. Also, many words can mean more than one thing: tii (falling tone) can be in, at, on, or place.

I won't bore you with all the details of this laborious process. With a combination of all the functions of the dictionary program, the transliterated and Thai words of the song, and my own tiny knowledge of Thai and a few good guesses, I ended up with the following:

Christmastime, Christmastime, Christmas time ???  Repeat
frequent(ly?) times preposition I/me/we/us dim ? spirit/heart cast away give/cry Chiiwit gloomy
guard look have who any silk/"word that makes a yes or no question" preposition await understand
news good today God give relationship heart I/me/we/us turn around
Jesus born in manger

Now if anyone can make sense of that, please let me know!

Philip was able to help me change "? spirit/heart" into "gloominess" or more literally "gloomy feeling." Then he had the idea to look online to see if I could find the words. I looked up "Christmas Bpen Wela" and found "Christmas Bpen Wela Haeng Kwam Rak." I know the word rak; it's love. The problem was I couldn't read the teacher's handwriting for those characters, and she had transliterated it "luk." (Thai often don't distinguish well between "r" and "l" and both make a "n" sound at the end of words; not fun for Meriel.) I also found that the name of the song translated into English is "Christmas is a Time for Love." I couldn't find further translation. Maranatha has a song with the same tune and the same first line, but, unless my meager translation is completely wrong, the rest of the song is completely different. I did find a YouTube video with clear singing and the words printed so I could read them. So now I know I have the correctly written Thai, and the girls and I can practice singing along with the video. Now we'll just have to get a human being to help us understand what we're singing.

Thanksgiving for...

In telling the girls the story of the first Thanksgiving, I try to stress the difficulties the pilgrims had overcome. The previous year or so had been very difficult. They had come to a new world so that they could worship God in their own way. They must have been trusting Him to take care of them, but they still suffered so much hardship. Yet after all this, they were thankful for friendship, family, food, and shelter. This year has been one of the most difficult for me; harder in some ways even than my first year of residency with a two year old, a newborn, and a husband in graduate school. Even so, I have much for which to be thankful.

I am thankful for the struggles this past year, for in them, God has shown Himself to me. I am a different person than I was a year ago when I boarded the plane to come to Bangkok. I am more humble, realizing that I can do less on my own than I thought I could. I am more dependent on God, my husband, and on my friends around the world. I have a deeper faith, realizing that God's plans are so much greater than my own. God has used my tears of this past year to bring me further than He could have taken me otherwise. He is shaping me into the woman of God He wants me to be. This past year has been a time of waiting and testing. In God's timing, I will be a better physician, a better pilot, a better "missionary" because of what God has led me through.

I am thankful for shelter. I recently wrote about how God provided this home for my family. As I walk to the vegetable market every week, I see shacks built up along the canal. Most children I know here do not have a yard of any sort; they spend their days inside or on a small balcony. Philip just mentioned the other day that they hotel room we lived in for nearly a month was about the same size as our dining area alone. No matter my mood, I do remember to daily thank God for our home. The months spent without one have created a more grateful spirit in me.

I am thankful for food. In another post, I wrote about some of the difficulties I have in providing meals for my family. Big and small groceries are often out of staples items for weeks, I have no oven and just a two burner stove, and dairy products are two to three times more expensive than in the States. But we always have three meals a day, plus snacks. We are able to afford "cheese meals" once or twice a week. We even get store bought pizza one night a week, for a treat and to give mommy a break. Most lunches, we are able to get chicken and rice or noodle soup from a food stand costing a little less than a dollar a piece, giving me more time for schooling in the mornings. I have been able to figure out a variety of meals that are inexpensive and everyone enjoys. We get to eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. We are all more appreciative of special treats like apples, butter, and cheese.

I am thankful for family. There is nothing quite like being on the other side of the world to make one appreciate family. When I moved to Israel right after getting married, I was excited to be in a new country with my husband. It wasn't until I was pregnant with Eris that I really wanted to be closer to my family. These days, I often wish I could just run over to my parents house to have a chat with my mom, to let my kids play on my old playset, to borrow an ingredient, or to relax. I wish my children could spend a weekend at my in-laws, fishing with Granddad, playing games with Grandmom, and laughing together. I wish I could go on a family camping trip with my brother, sister-in-law, and niece. I wish my grandparents could meet Simeon. But I am also very thankful to even have so many loving family members. And I am extremely grateful for Skype. My children can talk face to face with their grandparents. We were able to say hello to everyone at my family's early Thanksgiving dinner. I was able to hear my Grandpa's voice and to tell him that I love him. My parents and in-laws can watch my children grow. They can see Simeon walk around, they can watch Hollis jump around and hear her silly stories. They can appreciate just how tall and grown up Eris has gotten and see Meriel's sweet face as she laughs. Meriel and her cousin Tayla can Skype eachother when it's still Meriel's birthday in Oregon and already Tayla's birthday in Thailand. And the times we do get to spend physically together are almost too precious to describe. We are all eagerly anticipating mid-January and a visit from Grandma and Grandpa!

I am thankful for friendship. While God has not brought friends into my life here in Bangkok as I had hoped, He has deepened my friendship with those on the other side of the world. I can only imagine the isolation and loneliness of those who lived overseas before technology allowed us to interact across vast distances. While I generally do not profess a love for computers, I am grateful for these advances. Encouraged by many friends, I opened a Facebook page. It has been fun to see pictures of my friends' children as they grow and babies I have never had a chance to hold. I get to hear news from Terre Haute, Oregon, Bolivia, New Orleans, and other places just by looking at my computer. I have read through the Bible with a friend in Bolivia and one in Tulsa. I try to Skype regularly with my dear friends who are the closest to sisters I'll ever have. While our experiences are very different, Heather, serving as a missionary in Bolivia, and I can relate to one another in a way we would not have been able to if I were still living in Indiana. Hannah in Long Island has become dearer to me as well. Thank you to everyone who writes a comment on a Facebook post or smiles as you read a comment I write. Thank you for including us in your lives by praying, thinking about us, Skyping, or sending an e-mail. Thank you for allowing me to share by reading my blog. I daily thank God for your friendship.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Morning Rush

Mothering, like many other professions, seems to have whirlwinds of activity interspersed with lulls of relative calm. I have heard many mothers mention the 5 o'clock hour with displeasure. Dinner needs to be made, the kids are getting tired and hungry, toys are strewn all over the house, and Daddy is coming home from work all at about the same time. While I don't have to get anybody off to school or work at a certain time, it seems that the first hour or so of a morning is full of activities that all need to be performed at roughly the same time.

In our house, we don't have one child who is always the early riser. Any child could be the first awake, but the most frequent one is Meriel. She nearly always wakes up very hungry, but she can play quietly for awhile. Once I hear her awake, I usually try to get Simeon comfortably asleep without me. Oftentimes this doesn't work, so then he is awake too. It's usually a matter of minutes until Hollis hears Simeon and Meriel playing and wants to join them. Eris is my late sleeper, unless she is wanting to read a book. Just this morning, she got up early to finish a book so she could take it back to the library and check out a new one.

So generally the three youngest wake up within minutes of one another. Here's a sample schedule of events.

7:15 Meriel wakes up. I hear her up and come out of the bedroom. She sits on the couch with her
        blanket. I go to the bathroom.
7:17 Simeon wakes up. He's fussy and wants to snuggle and nurse a minute. Meriel says she's hungry.
7:18 Hollis wakes up and needs to go to the bathroom. I set Simeon down to hurriedly get her diaper
        off. I change Simeon's diaper while I'm at it.
7:27 I start getting breakfast ready: boiling eggs or cooking oatmeal or toasting bread. While I wait, I
        try to quickly brush and braid my hair. It's too hot and humid to leave my hair down and the
        longer I leave it loose, the more time it takes to get the tangles out. In the meantime, Hollis
        needs help getting her panties on the right way, Simeon needs to be stopped from banging on the
        bedroom door, Meriel needs help finding a book, Simeon needs to be stopped from banging on a
        glass cupboard with a block... You get the picture.
7:37 Breakfast is ready. I get everyone settled with a cup of milk and bowls or plates. I give Meriel
        the charge of giving Simeon pieces of food on his tray. I run upstairs to hang up laundry. If I
        don't get it up first thing in the morning, it often rains before it has a chance to dry. It's not so
        bad now, since dry season just started but it's still better to get it up early.
7:58 I come downstairs to a very messy table. Sometimes I have everyone come up and hang laundry
        with me to try to lessen this inevitability, but some days everyone is just too hungry to wait. I
        serve up seconds, help Simeon get a drink of milk, and clean up some messes before they spread
        too much.
8:11 I grab something to eat. I usually take bites between helping Simeon eat and drink, taking dishes
        to the outdoor kitchen, helping Hollis and Simeon wash up, and doing whatever else needs to be
        done for the morning.
8:17 Eris wakes up and starts reading. I ask her if she wants to eat, and she says, "Not now." I tell her
        that she needs to eat soon because I'm starting to clean up. No response.
8:22 Just as I'm about to wipe off the table, Eris decides she wants breakfast. I pour her some milk
        and get her a dish. I wipe off the table around her and sweep the floor.
8:25 Eris is finished, so I wipe up her spot. If she forgets to take her dishes to the sink, I have to
        decide whether to do it myself or call her back to do it.
8:31 It's about time to start school. But before that, Hollis comes in wanting a drink. I haven't washed
        the cups from breakfast yet, so I do that and then get her a drink.
8:36 Now Simeon wants a drink, I hunt around for his sippy cup. When I can't find it, I end up
        helping him drink from a regular cup.
8:42 I'm about to call the girls in to start school when I notice that Simeon doesn't smell so nice. I
        change his diaper.
8:47 About this time, I notice that it's starting to get dark. I run upstairs to grab the laundry as big
       drops start coming down. I find places to hang the damp clothes to finish drying, while Simeon
       does his best to take everything down as fast as I can put it up.
9:12 I start singing our beginning of school song and the kids come running. I sit down, and Simeon
        sits in my lap; he's soaking wet. It could be from grabbing a full cup off the counter or from a
        very wet diaper. Either way, he needs to be changed.
9:30 It doesn't seem to matter how early we are up, we never manage to start school before 9:30.

There are many variations of this schedule. Events happen in different orders or at different times. But it's always a rush of activity from the moment of waking. One day all my children will be potty-trained, one day they will be making breakfast for me, maybe even one day I will have a dryer, or maybe we'll have to all be up and out of the house at a certain time. So this is written as a memorandum, so I will always remember these days, and as a tribute to all mothers across all time who have very busy mornings. May we always prevail and make it to the early afternoon lull.

The Ever Present Jing-Jok

I suppose one cannot be a blogger and live in Thailand without writing something about the little creatures we share our lives with. Simeon recognizes the Thai word; when he hears it, he looks up and points at the ceiling. So what is are jing-jok? They are small geckos with sticky feet, walking on ceilings and walls all around our house. For Thai people, the name is onomatopoeic, but I think they sound more like chee-chik-chee. They really are everywhere. For months, Hollis would excitedly point them out, but eventually they became common even for her. We even have some recognizable friends. There is the one who has a waddle to his walk who is usually on the living room ceiling during the bedtime routine. One snacks on the ants in the indoor kitchen. I have a particular friend who peeks through the wall slits in the outdoor kitchen to watch me wash dishes. His friend lost his tail somehow, and we have been watching it grow out since we've lived here; it takes a long time for a gecko to regrow his tail. More lizards live in the outdoor kitchen than any other place. They enjoy snacking bits of food left in the sink and on the ants which try to snack on that food. When we first move here, I was always startled when I went to turn on the sink and a gecko speed past my hand up the wall. I learned to brace myself for this, and I now I am rarely surprised.

Due to their habit of turning up in random places, I have been responsible for the death of three jing-jok. Not long after we moved in, I was cooking something on the stove when I watched a gecko drop from the ceiling onto the pot lid. He slithered off and managed to make it under the stove where I watched him pant terribly until he sighed his last breath. It was a pitiable sound. Fortunately, these lizards rarely fall from the ceilings or walls. This is the only time I can recall it happening in my sight. I have read that it only happens when they are copulating but have not cared to try to verify this.

The second little jing-jok just happened to be in the hinge of the back doorway when I shut it for the night. I couldn't figure out what was keeping the door from shutting all the way. It's common to have to clear toys, sandals, and sticks out of the way. I looked on the floor and didn't notice anything, so tried again. It was then that I happened to look toward the hinge and notice the smashed lizard. I was so traumatized, I asked Philip to remove it and shut the door for me. Now, I try to remember to look around the door posts before shutting a door. This has saved more than one other lizard from a similar fate.

The third and last lizard (to date) to suffer a terrible fate at my hands managed to have extremely bad luck. I was trying to get some small toys out from under a cupboard which had sliding glass doors. As I lifted up the cupboard to try to shift it, the glass panels came lose and shattered on the floor. A jing-jok just happened to be between the two panels and was squashed upon impact.

I imagine there will be more instances of jing-jok ending up in dangerous situations, but overall we manage to dwell in harmony. Generally, I find the little guys rather cute. Sometimes I am annoyed by their constant presence. They seem to enjoy hiding under my counter-top stove, and then scramble out frantically when I light it. They also leave droppings but are not as prolific in this department as mice, fortunately. By sweeping out the kitchen floor and scrubbing the counter every morning, I am able to keep my kitchen fairly clean. I have also learned to keep my clean pots and pans covered. It's easy to learn to live with these mosquito and ant eating critters.

Holding on to God's Promises

Today, the girls and I read 2 Chronicles 30 about Hezekiah proclaiming a Passover celebration. Whenever we read about the various Israelite remembrances, I take the opportunity to remind the girls of stories from our own family history of how God has taken care of us. It's easy to get discouraged when I look at the day to day drudgery and wonder about God's provision and plan for us. A year ago today, I earned my private pilot's license. It was a nerve-wracking, exciting day. But as soon as I received congratulations from my instructor, I had to go home and finish the myriad of tasks required for moving a family of six overseas. I didn't have an opportunity to take my husband or one of my children on a flight. Since that time, I have not flown once. So why did God bless with flying lessons, and then bring me to a place where I am unable to fly?

I recently had the opportunity to observe a clinic for sex workers here in Bangkok. I really enjoyed being able to use my medical skills to show God's love to those women. It felt rewarding to be apart of a small medical community. I wanted to continue to help in the clinic, but after researching the requirements for medical volunteers in Thailand, I learned that I would need to have a full Thai medical license. This entails taking a written test in Thai, as well as paying a large fee for a license. So why did God allow me to learn about this clinic, only to be unable to help? Why did God bring me to a country where it would be so difficult for me get a medical license?

I do not have specific answers to the above questions, but I do know that God does not reveal His long term plans to us and His ways are loftier than ours. I am thinking about what seems good today; God is thinking about eternity. I like to have a long term plan: I will train and get my instrument flying rating at this time and place, I will begin working part-time in a mission clinic when Simeon is a certain age, God will give our family an airplane in a specific year, etc. But if God wanted me to know all this, He would let me know. So what does He want for me instead? He wants me to trust Him day by day; He wants me to celebrate the times that He has provided and kept His promises. I know that He will fulfill His will for my life to be a physician and a pilot to His glory. That's all I need to know. God promised Abraham a son; Isaac was born twenty-five years later. I pray that I will be patient to wait for God and not try to rush into second (or third or fourth) best.

While we have many stories of remembrance, the following is one that demonstrates our waiting and holding on to God's promises. My husband and I had felt God guiding us toward moving to Thailand in Fall 2013. We were waiting for university contacts to give us the green light by committing to provide paperwork for visas and sponsoring Philip's research. When this happened, we sold or packed up everything we owned and moved to Bangkok in a month. We didn't have much time to plan what we was going to happen once we got here. As God helped all the last minute details fall into place, we trusted that He would provide for us upon arrival. We arranged places to stay for the first five weeks.

Being from smallish cities in the United States, my children are used to having room. We had an average size yard in the States, meaning they had plenty of room to run around, play in the mud, plant flowers and vegetables. We had a sidewalk in front of the house for riding bicycles and scooters. I felt that I would be unable to function on a daily basis without an outdoor space for my children to play wildly and loudly. I needed to be able to say to them, "Go play outside!" instead of, "When I finish washing dishes and hanging up laundry, I will take you on a 20 minute bus ride to the nearest playground." I wanted to be able to invite other children to play in our yard and adults to relax in our home. I planned to have a place with room for visitors, not just my parents who could squeeze in anywhere if necessary. I prayed about this a lot and believed that God promised me He would provide.

Philip later told me that He believed God would find us a house during our first week here; that we would move from the five story town house, straight into our new home. I was a bit less optimistic, sure that we would have a house before our month in the guest house was complete. We did not make plans past those first five weeks, because we were so sure that God would provide. As the time neared for us to move out of the guest house, I prayed more fervently and even began to doubt. I spent hours with a Thai friend, looking online for houses and calling realtors. Philip walked around promising neighborhoods and rode around on the back of a friend's moped looking for signs. We spoke to everyone we could letting them know of what we were looking for. We found a great place, and even paid a deposit, only to have a misunderstanding due to the language barrier cause it to fall through. At the beginning of January, we moved into one room in a hotel.

Why would God allow this to happen? We had so much faith in His provision. We had prayed and believed that He would provide a house with a yard. I was discouraged and frustrated. My resolve to wait for a house was tested: lugging laundry downstairs to wash in the lobby while trying to keep four children entertained and not too wild, carefully picking my way around as to not step on children sleeping on all available floor space, threading through crowded side-walks with a trail of children behind me just to complete the first stage of a journey to a park or play area. I realized that living in our own apartment would be much better than this. I briefly started looking at townhouses and apartments, but my heart was not in it. Around this time, I found another house to look at. My friend called, and it was available! For the second time, we put a deposit on a house. A few days later, the realtor called to say that the family had decided not to move, and she would meet me to return our deposit.

I would like to say that I had staunch faith, that I never doubted for a moment, that I was so sure of God's provision that I rejoiced in this turn of events. But that's not true... I cried, I got angry, I wanted to give up. The hotel we were staying at, reneged on the special monthly rate we had negotiated. We began to look for another place to live. I contacted the guest house and found that the apartment there was available for another month. I spent this month really searching my heart. Was my desire for a house with a yard, my desire only or was it God's desire for us? I read Scripture some, but mostly just prayed. I again started looking at townhouses with small fenced parking areas instead of just detached houses with yards. I asked God to change my heart if He wanted us to live in an apartment. Maybe we were supposed to live more like locals in Bangkok. God had given me the sanity and peace to live in a hotel for a month, maybe He wanted to teach me to rely on Him more by living in an apartment. I asked Philip his thoughts, and he told me that he supported me either way. He did not feel strongly about living in a house versus an apartment. So God had given me a promise and had not related it to my husband. It was up to me to believe God's promise or doubt that I was really hearing God's voice and find an apartment to rent.

I'm not sure how long I looked at apartments and townhouses, but in my heart I knew that I was sinning. It was like Abraham taking Hagar; if we moved into an apartment or townhouse, we would be accepting less than God's best plan for us. I finally told Philip that God had not allowed me to have a change of heart and that I needed to only look at houses. He supported me in this decision. Meanwhile, our time at the guest house was running out. We packed up our suitcases again and moved into a one bedroom apartment. This was much better than a hotel. We had a tiny kitchen with a microwave and refrigerator. We had a living room to read or talk in while the kids slept in the bedroom. I did have to carrying the laundry down the street to some outdoor washing machines, but I considered that weight lifting. I was so thankful to not be living back in a hotel, and that gratitude spread to the children. The apartment even had a swimming pool!

During this time, Philip suggested that I contact the realtor of the second house, just to let them know we were still looking for a home in case they might reconsider moving. I was a little hesitant to do this, as I didn't want to be pushy. However, what did I have to lose? So I sent her a message, and then didn't hear anything. On March 16, my Thai friend sent me a message to call her when I had a chance. When I returned her call, she told me that the family of the house had indeed decided to move and wanted to rent us the house. The house would be available April 1st, the day Philip left for a two week trip to the States and a few days before our apartment contract finished. After moving six times in four months, we finally had a home!

This is just one part of our testimony of God's provision. As I write this, my children are playing in the yard. We have trees for them to climb, a driveway for them to ride bicycles, mud for them to play in, frogs for them to catch, a hose for them to wash off. How different would this story have been if we had not chosen to wait for God's timing? We could be living in an apartment with no yard or a townhouse with a small cement carport to play in. Yes, God's grace would have helped us to live in such a place; He could have used us in that setting. But He wanted to bless us, and He wanted to teach us. He wanted us to have this story to remind our children that we need to wait and hold on to His promises. Instead of forgetting, we need to celebrate our "feast days" and worship the Lord.