Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Days Two and Three of just Elisabeth and Mommy home

Yesterday was a nice full day. I noticed Elisabeth getting out of bed at about 7:00, but I carefully kept my eyes closed (looked at the time after she'd left the room) so she wouldn't notice I was awake, and then I fell back asleep. I didn't wake up until Elisabeth knocked on my "door" (my bedroom doesn't actually have a door, but the children are supposed to knock on the bookcase outside of the curtain, or at least say "knock, knock"...) just after 8:00.

On Monday I'd given each of the camp-goers some little juice boxes, which are a rare treat, and Elisabeth of course wanted some too, but I told her that she was having enough treats on Monday and she could have hers on Tuesday. She put it in the freezer on Monday and reminded me Enough that I'd said she could have it on Tuesday. She'd asked if she could have it after breakfast, and I said that as far as I was concerned, she could have it WITH breakfast.

So...Tuesday morning just after 8:00 she informed me that she'd gotten her frozen juice out, cut it open, eaten half of it, put half of it back in the freezer, cleaned up the mess on the table, and had a bath, because she'd also gotten juice all over herself. She hadn't washed her dishes, though, she told me, because one of the shelves for the refrigerator was balanced across the whole sink, soaking. Since she doesn't normally ever wash dishes, it hadn't occurred to me that the sink needed to be kept free for her...

She wanted to play a game with me, but agreed that I could get up, have a shower, get dressed, and even have breakfast. As it turned out that she hadn't had breakfast yet either, just the juice, she also had breakfast.

Then we played Hase und Igel again, which I won by only three moves. She likes to take the chance option on that game more than I do, which means that my carefully planned strategy sometimes gets wasted!

A little after 10:00 we left for Sue's house, where we go every Tuesday morning. Elisabeth and Sue's three-year-old grandson played quite happily together, and it wasn't difficult to accept the invitation to stay for lunch. Elisabeth should have had a piano lesson at noon, but had adamantly refused to go without her sisters.

We left there at 2:30 and stopped by the house briefly to collect our swimsuits and towels, and then drove half an hour to Mazotos where other friends live. Actually, last week was the first time we'd ever socialized with them, the main person in the family with whom we'd had contact being their two-year-old daughter, Mi. I'd babysat her two afternoons a week for the last year, and two or three times her four-year-old brother, Ma, as well, but had never spent time with their mother except when we first met, and for drop-off and pick-up, and had only met their father, very briefly, twice.

When we arrived last week, Mi had first looked shocked and clung to her mother, but once my children had jumped in the pool and I'd sat down and been handed a frappe, it was easy to see the wheels turning in her head. Normally, my appearance meant the disappearance of her mother, which she was fine with at OUR house, but certainly couldn't allow to happen at HER house. "But...the children are all in the pool, and She-ah is sitting down, so maybe Mama won't disappear?" After she'd looked back and forth between the others in the pool and me on the sofa several times, she then climbed up on my lap and requested some of the games we play, and she stayed with me most of the time we were there. :-) Ma also had plenty of fun with us, and I got a message from his mother the next day that he wanted to know when we were coming again. Also, when we were leaving last week, he was very disappointed that we hadn't played trains with him, so I'd promised him we'd play trains with him when we came again.

When Elisabeth and I arrived yesterday, there was no hesitation at all on Mi's part, and she cuddled with me almost the whole time. I read her one book in German (actually, a book of songs, which I sang to her...) about 15 or 20 times, and I also got to read her a book in English, as well as one in Hungarian. No, I do not speak ANY Hungarian. Mi giggled all through it. We also played with trains, and Mi and I played with a balancing game. The children were in and out of the pool, and then after dinner (Hungarian pancakes with a meat filling that were scrumptious) the three adults joined them. We didn't end up leaving their house until 10:00!

Elisabeth slept well last night and I woke up before she did this morning. :-)

Today, in contrast, we never left the house. I lost count of how many times we played Hase und Igel, but only played Ticket to Ride once (Elisabeth wasn't very happy that I won 177 to 100 and claimed I cheated) and Enchanted Forest once (Elisabeth won that one, of course). I also finished proofreading the third chapter of Jörn's book and Elisabeth had a very long bath, and during dinner I cleaned yet another shelf of the refrigerator. (The last shelf is in the drying rack now, so tomorrow I'll do the drawers. It's an exciting life. I also hung up one load of laundry and put another on to wash.) After dinner we were in my room looking at some things on the computer when we heard someone calling to us. It was three GROWN-UPS who were here to pick up something. It was nice to see them and get to say hi (and bye--two of them are leaving Cyprus tomorrow), but they didn't have time to come in. They probably sensed my desperation, too, which would increase their need to hurry off...

Finally, I read the first chapter of "Little House in the Big Woods" to Elisabeth (she read part of it to me, but she wants me to read it to her, because I've read it to all the other children, so she thinks she should have a turn, too), and she officially went to bed. Since she claims she doesn't go to sleep for hours anyway (not true, of course, but it's true that she doesn't go to sleep right away), I told her that she obviously wouldn't mind me doing my Greek lesson, and she couldn't really protest. LOL

I did get to talk to another grown-up today, when my sister Erin phoned. Elisabeth was very miffed and not getting to talk with her, and after I got off of the phone, she said, "It's not FAIR! Not even letting me talk to my AUNT! She's my AUNT, which means she's IMPORTANT." But she did indeed stay quiet through the phone call, which Erin had asked her to do, promising that she'll speak with her the next time she phones in the morning.

But I'm going just a little bit stir-crazy. The only concrete plans we have tomorrow are driving someone to the airport, and Friday Elisabeth has been invited somewhere, but I haven't, and don't know what I'll do during that time. I can only proof-read for a maximum of an hour or so at a time, sometimes not that long. We're probably going to the beach Friday afternoon with friends (two GROWN-UPS!! Yay!!), and the three campers get back Friday evening. I imagine that on Saturday I'll be missing the quiet week we've had. Elisabeth is a great companion--never whiny or bored, spending a lot of time with me and talking, but also wanting to go off and do her own thing as well--but I've simply never had so much quiet time in my whole life. It's still WEIRD.

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