...that is international relocation to the Middle East is at a high point for the moment. Two fabulous things happened today: our things arrived from the States, and Hannah got accepted into ASD (the American School of Doha)! She tested yesterday and thought she did well, but said she had some problems with the reading part of the test...just some words she wasn't familiar with. Evidently, she did just fine, because she's IN!
It's like Christmas in our house now! Eliza keeps saying how much she loves the boxes of her stuff....doesn't always even know what's inside, but she's so happy to just have her things here that she's smiling from ear to ear. Our own swing (not one borrowed from the neighbors), our own wagon, our other car seats, my kitchenware, which has been so very missed (the other night, I pounded chicken breasts with the bottom of a rum bottle).
HANGERS! Hangers with the clips on them! You have know idea how important these are until you move to a place where they don't exist. Pictures of my girls, our family, things that will finally make it feel like we're living in our home instead of a McMansion in the desert.
These first two weeks or so have been harder than I ever could have imagined. My days ususally start off hopeful and positive, but by the end of the day, I'm exhausted, depressed, homesick, and wondering if we bit off more than we can chew. I was warned this is how it would go...that this is all normal, but I don't have much patience for simply surviving it each day. But today--just for today--I'm happy to have the rest of all the little pieces of our life back.
More to come on: being in the presence of a Sheikh, what Eliza thinks about how people dress here, and getting a medical exam at a government-run medical clinic.
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Monday, July 16, 2007
Back to Normal...Normal Craziness That Is
My birthday weekend was quite laid back and generally enjoyable. The good: I got to have lunch with my friend and her family; my hubby and I went to see Knocked Up (the funniest movie I've seen in years!); and I got a free birthday drink at a little spot where Hubby and I stopped for a drink on the way back from the movie. If I'd remembered that most places give free b-day drinks, we soooo would have skipped the movie! (Just kidding...the few drinks I did have were just enough to put me in dreamland once I hit the pillow.) The bad: not a single person called me on my birthday :( I had just talked to my mom the day before, so I'm guessing she thought that was good enough. But, yeah, that still leaves my step-dad, my read dad, and the in-laws. C'est la vie.
On the kiddo front, H will be making her Grand Return on Saturday! I'm taking her to see the new Harry Potter movies, as she and I made a pact before she left that neither of us would go see it without the other. I can't wait to have her back home, and I'm interested to see how E reacts to seeing her sister again.
On the dissertation front, things seriously couldn't be better. I had a breakthrough moment this week, in which I realized what will likely be the Main Thread of Argument my dissertation will be making. Prior to this, I'd simply taken my advisor's (and committee's) advice: "I'd find what I find." That is, you can't really "know" ahead of time what you're project will be arguing until you're well into it and the pieces of the puzzle start coming together. Things fall into place, and the argument reveals itself. Well, that happened on Monday, so I e-mailed my advisor with my New Major Idea to see what she thought. She gave me the much-desired pat on the head, saying that this was a critical decision for my project, one that couldn't have been foreseen, and that it will result in a "convincing and very original dissertation." As usual, I'm just really happy when one of my Big Ideas turns out to be good, so it's just icing on the cake when my advisor gives me the big ole' "Congratulations on the great idea!" response. She really has no idea how much I look up to her. She's actually from my Home State, which contributes to my esteem for her because...well, let's just say that I never heard or knew about women like her when I was growing up. Growing up in the country in Home State, I never knew that being a college professor was something I could do in life.
Now back to the craziness that is life with two kids and two dissertations. Both H and E start swimming lessons next week. Those last for two weeks, and then H will go make to Home Start for another visit (just 2 weeks this time). She'll come back with one week left before school, during which time I'm hoping I can schedule some one-on-one math tutoring with one of her former teachers. She lost a lot of her basic math facts skills over 2nd grade as a result of having a teacher who emphasized reading and prepping for the 3rd grade's standardized test. Before she moves on to multiplication tables, etc., she's GOT to get a strong hold on those basic math facts. I'm counting on the chemistry she had with the previous teacher to help her regain some of those skills before school starts.
On the kiddo front, H will be making her Grand Return on Saturday! I'm taking her to see the new Harry Potter movies, as she and I made a pact before she left that neither of us would go see it without the other. I can't wait to have her back home, and I'm interested to see how E reacts to seeing her sister again.
On the dissertation front, things seriously couldn't be better. I had a breakthrough moment this week, in which I realized what will likely be the Main Thread of Argument my dissertation will be making. Prior to this, I'd simply taken my advisor's (and committee's) advice: "I'd find what I find." That is, you can't really "know" ahead of time what you're project will be arguing until you're well into it and the pieces of the puzzle start coming together. Things fall into place, and the argument reveals itself. Well, that happened on Monday, so I e-mailed my advisor with my New Major Idea to see what she thought. She gave me the much-desired pat on the head, saying that this was a critical decision for my project, one that couldn't have been foreseen, and that it will result in a "convincing and very original dissertation." As usual, I'm just really happy when one of my Big Ideas turns out to be good, so it's just icing on the cake when my advisor gives me the big ole' "Congratulations on the great idea!" response. She really has no idea how much I look up to her. She's actually from my Home State, which contributes to my esteem for her because...well, let's just say that I never heard or knew about women like her when I was growing up. Growing up in the country in Home State, I never knew that being a college professor was something I could do in life.
Now back to the craziness that is life with two kids and two dissertations. Both H and E start swimming lessons next week. Those last for two weeks, and then H will go make to Home Start for another visit (just 2 weeks this time). She'll come back with one week left before school, during which time I'm hoping I can schedule some one-on-one math tutoring with one of her former teachers. She lost a lot of her basic math facts skills over 2nd grade as a result of having a teacher who emphasized reading and prepping for the 3rd grade's standardized test. Before she moves on to multiplication tables, etc., she's GOT to get a strong hold on those basic math facts. I'm counting on the chemistry she had with the previous teacher to help her regain some of those skills before school starts.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Child care (again), Just the Girls, and Pity Parties
This post should really be divided into The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
The Good
Hubby and I got a call last week from a Montessori for which Baby E has been on the waiting list. They have an opening next month, so we'll be switching into a program that has only 6 babies in the infant room - yay! This is especially good b/c I've noticed lately this one infant at her current daycare, who is...how shall I say...dominating the arms of the caregivers. This infant is older than mine, old enough to be standing up and taking steps while she holds on to something. She's a cute baby and all, but she's an only baby, and it's obvious that her parents have nothing in the world to do except hold her when she's at home. I say obvious b/c that's what she expects to happen while she's at daycare. If she isn't being held (by the teacher, the aide, or even ME!..she constantly comes crawling up to me, trying to get me to pick her up), she is crying - no tears mind you - or misbehaving in order to get some attention.
The workers have talked to the mother and explained that they can't possibly hold her the entire time she's at daycare, and they've suggested that she work with them to help get her child used to independent play for more than like, 5 seconds. However, the mother seems to be ignoring this advice and the effects of her child's behavior on other babies in the room. I guess I have no real point, except that I really look forward to things being better at the montessori, and by better I mean that I hope my baby gets a little more snuggly time of her own!
The Bad
Hubby is going out of town this weekend for a conference, so I'll have both girls on my own -- yikes! I've been a single mom before, but that was back when I only had one child. I'm completely dreading the Friday morning get-both-girls-out-the-door-and-get-to-work-on-time challenge. In addition, H (my 8 yr. old) has soccer practice on Thursday evening, a soccer game on Saturday morning, and I don't even want to think about how I might get everyone up and ready for church on Sunday morning. The fun doesn't stop there folks.... Hubby is going away again next weekend, this time with H, for another daddy/daughter camp out (last one for the season), leaving me home again with Baby E. Less stressful, sure, but still -- can I get a weekend?? Hell, I'd settle for a day just to myself. Am I a horrible selfish person for wanting this??
The Ugly
I didn't get two of the departmental fellowships I applied for, and I completely freaked out. Sobbing tears in my committee chair's office.. Ugly face cry. Ugly voice words.. Long story short, she helped me get over it, and I'm better... for now. I applied for another (non-department) award, and I'm hoping that I fare better with it, as preference isn't given to those who are well into drafting or who are almost done drafting the dissertation. Rather, the winners are chosen almost entirely based on the quality of their proposal (Interesting? Of the moment? Free of jargon? Clearly grounded in the humanities? Interdisciplinarity helps too).
I just realized that I don't take losing well. At all. I don't want to be "one of the best" students my advisor has worked with, I want to be "THE best." When I told my mom this, she sighed heavily, sounding completely exhausted with me. I told her, "I would think you'd be proud to have a child who wants to be the best..who isn't happy to settle for second-best." She said, "I want a child who doesn't give herself ulcers worrying about being The best." I kinda see her point, but that didn't make me feel better. And, as much as I want to throw myself a pity party, I don't know that that would make me feel better either. I'm not sure what would.
Also ugly
The fact that I have childen growing up in a culture that ignorantly clings to the right to bear arms while people die in senseless violent acts like the one that took place at Virginia Tech yestserday. I hunt. I come from a hunting family. But we don't live in the world where hunting rifles are only used for hunting. We pour money into the war on drugs, we pour mone into the fight against illegal immigration, yet we've done nothing to stop the rise of a gun-based culture of violence that takes more and more innocent lives every year. How stupid are we?
The Good
Hubby and I got a call last week from a Montessori for which Baby E has been on the waiting list. They have an opening next month, so we'll be switching into a program that has only 6 babies in the infant room - yay! This is especially good b/c I've noticed lately this one infant at her current daycare, who is...how shall I say...dominating the arms of the caregivers. This infant is older than mine, old enough to be standing up and taking steps while she holds on to something. She's a cute baby and all, but she's an only baby, and it's obvious that her parents have nothing in the world to do except hold her when she's at home. I say obvious b/c that's what she expects to happen while she's at daycare. If she isn't being held (by the teacher, the aide, or even ME!..she constantly comes crawling up to me, trying to get me to pick her up), she is crying - no tears mind you - or misbehaving in order to get some attention.
The workers have talked to the mother and explained that they can't possibly hold her the entire time she's at daycare, and they've suggested that she work with them to help get her child used to independent play for more than like, 5 seconds. However, the mother seems to be ignoring this advice and the effects of her child's behavior on other babies in the room. I guess I have no real point, except that I really look forward to things being better at the montessori, and by better I mean that I hope my baby gets a little more snuggly time of her own!
The Bad
Hubby is going out of town this weekend for a conference, so I'll have both girls on my own -- yikes! I've been a single mom before, but that was back when I only had one child. I'm completely dreading the Friday morning get-both-girls-out-the-door-and-get-to-work-on-time challenge. In addition, H (my 8 yr. old) has soccer practice on Thursday evening, a soccer game on Saturday morning, and I don't even want to think about how I might get everyone up and ready for church on Sunday morning. The fun doesn't stop there folks.... Hubby is going away again next weekend, this time with H, for another daddy/daughter camp out (last one for the season), leaving me home again with Baby E. Less stressful, sure, but still -- can I get a weekend?? Hell, I'd settle for a day just to myself. Am I a horrible selfish person for wanting this??
The Ugly
I didn't get two of the departmental fellowships I applied for, and I completely freaked out. Sobbing tears in my committee chair's office.. Ugly face cry. Ugly voice words.. Long story short, she helped me get over it, and I'm better... for now. I applied for another (non-department) award, and I'm hoping that I fare better with it, as preference isn't given to those who are well into drafting or who are almost done drafting the dissertation. Rather, the winners are chosen almost entirely based on the quality of their proposal (Interesting? Of the moment? Free of jargon? Clearly grounded in the humanities? Interdisciplinarity helps too).
I just realized that I don't take losing well. At all. I don't want to be "one of the best" students my advisor has worked with, I want to be "THE best." When I told my mom this, she sighed heavily, sounding completely exhausted with me. I told her, "I would think you'd be proud to have a child who wants to be the best..who isn't happy to settle for second-best." She said, "I want a child who doesn't give herself ulcers worrying about being The best." I kinda see her point, but that didn't make me feel better. And, as much as I want to throw myself a pity party, I don't know that that would make me feel better either. I'm not sure what would.
Also ugly
The fact that I have childen growing up in a culture that ignorantly clings to the right to bear arms while people die in senseless violent acts like the one that took place at Virginia Tech yestserday. I hunt. I come from a hunting family. But we don't live in the world where hunting rifles are only used for hunting. We pour money into the war on drugs, we pour mone into the fight against illegal immigration, yet we've done nothing to stop the rise of a gun-based culture of violence that takes more and more innocent lives every year. How stupid are we?
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