It's the fifth day of the Lunar New Year--po wu as it's called in Chinese. It's not quite 7 pm as I begin this and already it sounds like Baghdad out there.
Since the evening of the first day, with the exception of the other day when we had dinner at Fourth Aunt's house, it's just been Guennie and me alone, 24 hours a day. Fanfan has Johnny at her folks' place, but I would have gone stir crazy out there, and besides, the outsize bed they generously provided was still too small for the four of us to get a restful night's sleep. So it's just me and my little 2-years-and-ten-month-old princess. I had somehow imagined that she would keep herself quietly entertained with the various toys she's accumulated. She knows how to work the DVD and the remote, so I figured I might have time to catch up on reading, scour the news for interesting things to blog about, and do some work. No such luck. Single parents out there, my hat's off to you. I don't know how you do it. (The drawing on the left, by the way, is her most recent rendering of me. She did it this afternoon. The one further down was also supposed to be me, but she decided just now that it's a warthog. Thanks, Guen.) (It's now me again).
I'll admit I've tended to spoil her, and now the bill's come due. She sees this as her chance to put into full practice all the manipulative techniques she's mastered. So no noontime naps, a minimum of walking (why walk when you can be carried?),very late bedtime, and dinner in the living room watching one of several Pixar movies she's obsessed with (or the Disney Lion King trilogy--thus the warthog?). And Dad just sucks at saying no.
I've failed, also, to keep up my end of the language education deal. She's so conversant in Chinese that I reflexively speak to her in that tongue, and not, as I'm supposed to, in English. Lazy fucker that I am, I'm just counting on the boxed DVD set of Sesame English Fanfan bought to get her English on par with her Chinese. I take some solace in knowing I'm doing a better job of speaking only English with John.
Tomorrow I'm taking Guenevere out to pick up Fourth Aunt and her husband, and then we head out to the in-laws' place up north for lunch, then finally come back with Fanfan and Johnny. What a relief it's going to be. I've managed to mop and pick up all the toys, but there's a scary pile of dishes I need to get to as soon as Guennie goes down. That's not likely to happen soon, with all the fireworks.
Anyone reading this may have noticed the family-heavy nature of posts. I don't intend for that those to continue dominating, so do come back once the holiday's over and I'm back to work and thinking about things other than my kids, the in-laws, and the extended Kuo, Zhang, Liu, and Nie clans.
Comments