Friday, August 30, 2013

Back in country (8/1/13)

Christy:

The internet seems to be working well this morning. I thought I would give you all an update.

I am LOVING being here with my girl! It was a very surreal experience arriving back. I got off the plane, went through customs and into baggage like I lived here! Met my new Congolese BFF and I even observed the custom of kissing on either cheek. Totally getting used to this! Might as well move on over here, right? HA! I love America!

I feel much different emotionally this time. I've really made peace with everything and am prepared to get things done over here. It is time for Imani to come home. Her room has been empty long enough and her brothers are tired of waiting!...

So, I don't know if you remember from my last trip, but this girl SERIOSULY loves the Fanta. So much so that home girl refused to eat her lunch and had a meltdown. So, finally she went to sleep. Then she woke up herself. We all went out to dinner yesterday and I ordered her milk - which she likes. Some others got Fanta and of course, it started. This girl cried ALL THROUGH dinner. The wait staff had a lot of pity on her and tried multiple different things to give her, but she cried the entire time. She pushed her dinner away from her. Seriously. All over Orange FANTA! You might be wondering, why the battle? Why not just give her the Fanta? Well, because, this is a power struggle. It is about so much more than just the simple act of drinking Fanta. She is testing me. We don't drink soda at home, so why am I going to allow a 3 year old to drink it here in Congo? I will either fight it with her here or at home. I would rather not fight about it at home. So, I remained calm and tried to talk to her, then gave her space and then tried to talk to her again. She wanted nothing to do with it. BUT, I know she was paying attention because last night she told me 3 times "Mommy, I sorry". I just loved on her.

No comments:

Post a Comment