“Mama can you tell to papa that I standed on this step, deep deep in the swimming pool?”
“Mama can you tell to papa that I ate all the carrots and tomatoes in the bowl?”
“Mama can you tell to papa that I can jump like a football player, high up in the sky?”
“Mama can you tell to papa that I sit like a big girl in the chair?”
——–
“I’m sad to travel ‘out papa.”
“I like to travel with papa.” (Pouting)
He’s meeting us in NY guys. It’s going to be lots of fun.
“Yay!!!”
Early one morning a couple of weeks ago.
Leila: Where’s papa?
Me: He’s on a plane, going to Houston, in America.
Rahul: Like the pilgrims?
Me: Yah, to America like the pilgrims. But he’s on a plane, not a boat, so he’ll be there by tomorrow.
Leila: Can you be papa?
Me: What do you mean can I be papa?
Leila: Papa talks French. You talk French.
Me: Woah. Oh. Tu veux que je parle en Francais avec vous?
They both look up at me, eyes gleaming. And smile.
Rahul: Papa talks Francais.
Me: D’accord, on peut parler en Francais.
Leila: Papa. Papa, I want to go to Etats Unis.
Me: On va aller aux Etats Unis bientot cherie. T’en fait pas…..
(Ten minutes of French later)
Me: Ok guys, come on, let’s go downstairs for breakfast.
Leila: Nooooo, you are papaaaa…you talk French.
Me: Ah, oui. J’ai oublie.
Rahul: No talk Francais mama. Talk Anglais. Waaaa. You are mama now.
This morning Maher noticed something dangling off a roof right next to our bedroom.
A snake had shed it’s skin last night.
The kids were intrigued. Until they looked at it closely, they thought it was plastic.
And then…it wound up in the play-doh.
Leila just waking up: Mama. In my dream I had up slippers (high heels). And they were lighting up every time I walk.
How time till I can have real up slippers?
Waaaa Waaaaa, I want up slippers.
Me: Well, don’t you complain about your neck hurting, and your legs hurting?
She nods.
Me: High heels would only make it worse. (We go through the high heels discussion many times a week.)
Rahul wakes up.
Leila: In Rahul’s dream he had a ball.
Rahul: No I didn’t have a ball.
Leila: Yes he had a ball.
Me: You mean in your dream Leila, Rahul had a ball?
Leila: In my dream I had up slippers and Rahul had a ball.
This morning -
Leila waking up: In my dream
I was eating a cake. And then I see’d teta (grandma in Arabic) maked a chocolate cake. With insects on it.
Me: Oh really, was it yummy?
Rahul: I like chocolate.
Leila: Nooo, it wasn’t yummy.
Related: Cinderella Shoe Trend: DSW, Louboutin Take on Princess Heels
“Can I have a up slippers and a dress like this little girl?”
Me: Today is Saturday. Do you have school today?
L & R : NO!!!
Me: Hey, Anna goes to a hip hop dance class on Saturdays. I think it’s a lot of fun. Do you guys want to go with her today?
Leila: I already know hip hop. It’s on one foot. But I only like to spin.
Me: Oh yeah, you hop. Well sometimes you dance on one foot and sometimes on both. So let’s go!
Leila: But how time until flip flop? I want to go with Anna.
Me: After lunch.
Rahul: Hip hop is a dessert.
Me: Oh yeah? What does it taste like?
Rahul holding a pretend pan over the stove: It’s a pancake.
Me: Oh yeah, you flip it huh?
He lights up.
What Hip Hop Taught Me by Jenna Marbles
Wesley – Blogger and Health Aficionado
Yoga and Travel – The Connection is Deeper than you Think.
Yoga is more popular than ever before, and many people rely on yoga as a means of staying in shape and of maintaining top mental health. However, the benefits of yoga often go beyond what even its practitioners realize. Here are some of the ways that yoga affects travel and some techniques for those who wish to travel while maintaining their yoga study and practice.
Yoga Eases Travel Burdens
Vacations are fun; traveling may not be. Fortunately, regular yoga practice can make traveling more pleasant. Those who are taking long trips by car or by airplane will benefit from the better circulation that yoga provides. In fact, some doctors even recommend yoga as a means of avoiding potentially dangerous blood clots that may develop while sitting still for lengthy periods of time. In addition, yoga being largely meditative in nature, learning to meditate can ease the boredom of especially long trips.
Yoga is Portable
Compared to other forms of exercise, yoga is easy to do while away from home. Even without a mat, it is possible to create a great space for yoga even in a small hotel room, and many hotels now offer yoga classes for travelers who wish to practice yoga with others.
Make sure to perform some due diligence before booking a room in order to find the right hotel that does offer these classes complimentary.
On my most recent trip to Las Vegas I used a hotel review site to find the best hotel in the area that suited my needs for fitness coupled with the right price. Doing this search helped me find the right Las Vegas hotel for my particular personality.
Travelers may also wish to take a trip to local yoga facilities when visiting a new area; working with different instructors can lead to new insights. Some airports even offer rooms designed to allow yoga students to practice while waiting for their flights.
Yoga Relieves Travel Stress
Often, travelers visit areas for business purposes, and business meetings can lead to considerable amounts of anxiety. By regularly practicing yoga and continuing to do so while preparing for a meeting, students will be able to enter the meeting in a relaxed, focused state. Doing so may lead to better outcomes. It is little surprise that so many businesses encourage their employees to practice yoga, and those who focus on the meditative aspects of yoga will reap rewards for their practice.
Although yoga has evolved for thousands of years, yoga’s popularity today has made it far more accessible to travelers. On your next vacation or business trip, see for yourself, those who practice before and while traveling will likely enjoy their vacations and business trips more than those who do not.
To explain where stories come from, we helped Leila and Rahul make their own mini-books. I transcribed their stories.
Natasha Visits Dr. Leila
by Leila
Doctor Leila goes for a walk.She goes to the nurse’s house.
The nurse goes to Dr. Leila’s house.
They do a blood test for Natasha.
They check Natasha’s heart. (L and R both demand I draw a heart on this page!)
They heard dook dook, dook dook, dook dook.
Then they checked her lungs.
Dr. Leila and the nurse sent Natasha home.
Natasha became better.
THE END
The Dragon and the Princess
by Rahul
Once upon a time there was a princess who was stuck in the dragons cave.
And one dragon said, “Who is here?
The dragons blow fire at her.
She called the prince. He faught the dragons with his sword.
The dragons threw fire on the prince as well.
The dragons left the cave.
THE END
Wonderland
by Rahul
Once upon a time there was a dragon and a princess.
The dragon blew fire on the prince and princess.
Then suddenly, the nice fairy appears and fights with the dragon.
And the dragon flew away.
THE END
Nemo the Shark
by Rahul
Nemo the shark bites everyone. But he is scared of the dragon.
One day Nemo met the dragon in his house! (R: Mama put an excamashun mark)
The dragon blew fire on Nemo. It hurt a lot. (R: draw a dragon here. Blowing fire. – I managed a dragon brontosaurus dog with whiskers blowing a sock.)
THE END
Leila this morning: When I become bigger, I want to be a builder.
Leila this evening: When I become bigger, I will be a doctor. I’ll do blood tests and IV’s.
Me: Ok. When you are older you can go to a doctor school then.
Rahul: I don’t want to be a nurse now.
Me: What do you want to be then Rahul?
Rahul: I want to be a dragon. I want to go to dragon school.
Me: Ok, then you can go to dragon school.
In July last year, Maher bought me an iPhone for our anniversary. My frist ever Smartphone. Of course, I didn’t even open it for a few months. Now I’m hooked.
And then my brother introduced me to WhatsApp while complaining about how people don’t just pick up the phone and call for a few minutes. Instead they chat on this thing for hours on end.
Then last month one of my friends suggested I get it. So here I am now, chatting with my friends around the world, anytime of day or night – and yes, sometimes it’s more of a monologue than dialogue. But they understand, they know I’ve lived on the moon for the last ten years.
I was chatting with some of my friends while my kids were in hospital last week. Sending emails too.
A couple of weeks into the NICU experience in Nov and Dec of 2009, one of the nurses organised a Parent Support Group. After some hesitation, it being our first “support group” and all, Maher and I went. We were only two couples in the English speaking section, and the woman leading the group showed us a day-by-day photo album of her twin boys born there, at 26 weeks gestation. Actually, one of her 6-year-old sons was taking us through the pics himself. His mum openly discussed the challenges her family faced at the NICU and over the following years. Of course, she encouraged us to talk. What struck me was that the other couple had shared their baby’s photos on Facebook. Their naked baby with a ventilator, feeding tubes, bandages, IV’s, the works.
They found love, support, and strength through their network of family and friends.
I, however, was unable to call my own brothers. I almost dialed my closest childhood friend’s number a few times. Even did once, a few days after Rahul was already home. Chatted for a few minutes.
A couple of friends of mine dropped everything that was going on for them in Chengdu and came to see me in HK. I barely even spoke to the one who stayed two weeks. She got to know my mum amd mother-in-law a bit better though.
That’s the way I used to deal with things, and during the NICU time and later, this reflex kicked in more strongly than ever before. I felt that no one could help anyway, and isolating myself was the most efficient way to deal with what was in front of me. It made sense at the time because only parents were allowed into the NICU, and I wanted to savor every moment I had alone with my babies. I was too fragile to handle criticism and questions, stress from others, and least of all pity. And there was no way I would break down. Not then.
But then a few months later, both babies out of the NICU, and home in Chengdu, I relaxed. I started to comment on blogs. (Big step!) Then I started my own. I got a VPN in China, to access Facebook again, right after Zambia won the Africa cup. I couldn’t join the celebrations, not even over FB. That was too much for me to handle!
I tried to create a network of my mum friends via Multicultural Mothering.
When one of my friend’s twins were in the NICU a year ago, I felt the need to be present. He had no problem communicating with me, explaining, and even listening to me. I was impressed. And now while my kids were in the hospital last week that same friend along with others all listened, and shared their own experiences. It made everything more bearable. Others read my endless WhatsApp monologues.
Thanks for the support over the last couple of weeks, for the brainstorming sessions, the connection. For just being there.
When I saw this talk for the first time a couple of years ago, it was perfectly timed then. I immediately forwarded it to an exhaustive list of friends. A few days ago my cousin shared it with me again. It was just what I needed to hear. Again. For my friends – old and new.
