Stage Fright!

The above picture is of Jonathan and I teaching his Turkish class about Halloween.
Were you deathly afraid of getting up in front of an audience when you were young? I was. Terrified! In our church, the children give short talks in front of sunday school every once in a while. Well, I remember once when my mom had helped me prepare a very cool visual aide for one of these talks. I was all prepared to give the talk but when I got up there, my mom even accompanied me, I started to cry and couldn't even give my talk. I was so embarrassed. I never gave a talk again in Sunday school. I actually avoided giving talks in church until I was 21 years old. Can you believe that? Public speaking, or teaching, or entertaining an audience is a skill. Something learned. Something I eventually learned through practice. Now I don't mind teaching or speaking in front of groups anymore. I don't want my kids to have that problem growing up. It's terrifying when you're anxious about performing all day long. The performance lasts 20 minutes and then you feel fine afterwards. What a waste of a day!

About three weeks ago the school sent out an announcement that they would be hosting a Poetry Night on the 21st of March. Immediately, I thought, "My kids have to do this!" Well, they did. For Atticus, this was quite a feat. Getting him to perform isn't easy. But he prepared a short poem, The Purple Cow by Gelet Burgess, and recited it with some expression. I was so proud of him. Plus, I think he enjoyed watching all the other poems being performed too. Sherman also performed. I didn't have to convince him that it would be fun. He loves putting on a show. He chose "The Star" by Jane Taylor. He wore a paper star that framed his face. The audience clapped even before he spoke a word.

Here they are after everything was over. We went to the clubhouse for dinner and shakes. That's why Sherman's face is chocolatey. Atticus said his favorite poem was Sherman's. Sweet!

Spider School

From the adventures of bunsy and her tumbleweeds

From the adventures of bunsy and her tumbleweeds

So today they really did start school. sigh. They clad themselves in their crispy new uniforms, mommy took pictures, and we were off. This time we woke up earlier so that we might not be stuck in traffic. It didn't help. Boy was it bad! I've seen worse but unfortunately, there wasn't the option to get out of the taxi since we were in our own car. We spent a good hour getting there and back in the morning, and the same on the pick up end. But we all survived! The kids were still alive and so were their teachers. I guess we'll go back tomorrow

From the adventures of bunsy and her tumbleweeds

While the older two were in school Cinci attended his first day of school too. At home. We've decided to call it "Spider School" since he's obsessed with Spiderman. I know, he's two years old. And yes, he's seen Spiderman, but only because we decided to show it to Atticus. So now Cinci thinks he's Spiderman. I tried to convince him that the Superman cape we have is really a Spiderman cape but he's figured me out. He's complained that it doesn't have any blue on it like Spiderman's real costume.

In Spider School we do a lot of the same things that a kid would do in preschool. Songs, games, hand washing, art, snack time, story time, and I try to include as many grown up things as possible. For example, getting dressed in the morning. Choosing clothes, brushing teeth, combing hair, etc. He's kind of behind in that department. We also do a lot of climbing, like spiders. He climbs up his chair to get on it. We also jump a lot. Well, he jumps a lot, on his bed. We also eat other spiders during snack time. Today we ate spider snacks

From the adventures of bunsy and her tumbleweeds

From the adventures of bunsy and her tumbleweeds

I present to you Spider Baby. Look at those chocolaty eyes. Here he is contemplating Spider School as I thought up in my mind what exactly we were going to do for it. I hadn't planned on doing anything in particular with him while the boys were at school, but hey! Why not? It's October and he needs some last minute attention. Last minute meaning from now until this baby in my tummy is born.

The "first" day of school

It's precisely 100 degrees outside right now. It's really starting to cool down during the day now. This morning was the big morning. The first day of school for Atticus and Sherman. Surprisingly there were no tears from Mommy though because when we arrived at school we were informed by a very official looking paper that his highness the Emir had ordered that schools be postponed until next week on account of the swine flu. I was angry. I woke my precious babies at 6 AM, sped them through their cereal, showered them, forced them to stand still for pictures, and then had to listen to my husband stress about making it to work on time as we raced to school in the car together. Here are pictures of my older two, all ready for school.

From the adventures of bunsy and her tumbleweeds

From the adventures of bunsy and her tumbleweeds

From the adventures of bunsy and her tumbleweeds

Well, what's another week? They will officially start school on October 4. Don't you think that's a little late? It's starting to irk me because I'm already planning on cutting their school year short by returning to the states in May for a family campout. Good thing they are small and school doesn't really count yet. Right?

My baby is sick.

Well, I can't really complain since our family has benefited from stellar health for a really long time. With three kids 5 and under, how can you mantain such a record for very long? I don't know the secret. It's definitely a combination of things. God's will, eating habits, cleanliness of the home, etc. Anyway, my precious baby has gotten sick. He has this raspy cough and a fever. I don't have much faith in taking him to the doctor yet. Why bother if you don't believe what the doctor is telling you? It always takes a little blood and a lot more suffering for me to build up enough faith to obey a doctors orders, especially while abroad. Culture has a lot to do with medical practices over here. Speaking of medical practices, I still haven't been to a doctor for the upcoming arrival of my fourth son. I know, I'm being careless, but I've been reading these reviews of the different hospitals here and I'm really indecisive now. Fortunately, all my pregnancies have been normal as have been my births. I have a goal to call and make an appointment tomorrow with a recommended doctor. Unless "my precious" keeps me from making the phone call, I will be scheduled in, I hope.

Meanwhile I've been putting together a poor mans version of these for my two schoolgoers. Why do I say "poor mans" version? Well, who really has 14 paper towel tubes just sitting around? I'd have to go to the store, buy 14 rolls and rip the paper towels off them to make this craft. So, I'll post a picture of what mine looks like tomorrow, when my kids aren't looking. The countdown will start this Saturday. I'm really excited because I know they will be excited too. Oh, isn't it fun when you can still surprise your kids?

Oh yeah, another reason why my version of this is a "poor mans" version is that red bulbous thing sitting on number 2. What poor kid do you know would prefer an apple over candy? I filled one of the slots to the brim with Mamba candies.

Cookie cutter kids

So my kids don't conform to the cookie cutter mold for turkish preschool. They now come home early from preschool. Listen to this, a normal day of preschool can start from anywhere between 8-9 in the morning to 5-6 in the afternoon. That's a possible 10 hours in preschool! It's impossible for me to believe that any non working mother would want this for her child. However, if I was a working mother I would gratefully place my children in this kind of preschool. They get fed three times. Not just sandwiches and chips, but real food. Lentil soup, meatballs, in season fruit, green beans, dry beans with salami, baked chicken, pasta, manti (turkish ravioli), rice, and tons of other dishes that I couldn't describe because I don't know enough turkish. Anyway, they get cleaned 50 million times a day. They get worried about if they fall down. They get coddled. All the attention you would want your child to have while you were gone would be given to them. Despite all these redeeming qualities, I would rather have my children home with me. I take them out at 2 each day. I know that my sometimes grumpy voice isn't as nice as all the cooing that they hear at school, but at least I get to see them be free for a while and know that they are still mine. I love to see them run and jump and get dirty and scream! (outside the house of course) As for the cookie cutter reformation of my children, I don't know if it will ever happen. My children hit other kids. Yes, I am a mother of preschool bullies. They're different than elementary school bullies. Anyway, I take them home early because the school thinks that perhaps I can do something to change their behavior at school. Well, I can't remedy the fact that my kids don't understand turkish and are slightly violent even at home. I really feel for their teachers. I hate to cause anyone else extra work.
So here's my dilemma- My oldest child would be happy to be home with me, but he's severely shy and extremely hyper active. I feel that he should spend some time with other kids and people to foster social growth. We lack family and visits from other children so I feel this is necessary right now. My middle child is very social and less hyper and actually listens better, eats better, and naps better at school than he does at home. He also loves all the attention he gets at school. When should a child most be home with their mother? When they hate their preschool but need to learn to be social -or- when they already are socially healthy and don't need that strength?

Things to do

I know people prefer to read posts that contain pictures and for this one I have none. I have been attending my Turkish class for almost two weeks now and it has made my life suddenly three dimensional. Not only I am a wife and a mother, but now I am a classmate. I love it and I know I will come close to tears when my class is over in a month and a half. Not because I've made such good friends, but because it is REALLY fun to have things to do. You know, things to do ? Not those things I do as a wife and mother, but those things that fall outside those catergories. Anyway, some women have work, some have friends, some have church callings, some homeschool, some are students, etc. The language is opening up to me and I am feeling more confident each day. I know I will make friends with the cute turkish ladies in my neighborhood very soon.
As for friends in my turkish class, I wouldn't really call them my friends yet. And unfortunately, most of them live miles and miles away with the Bosphorus in between. In fact, with the exception of the teacher, there is only one other student that lives on the Asian side of the city. He is a German university student on an Erasmus program. We travel from class together since we live near eachother and our trip is full of conversation about all kinds of topics. "Arnold Schwartzneggar, Porches, German yards decorated with trolls, Turkish-German relations vs. Mexican-American relations, etc." Even though he is not a woman nor a mother of small children, he is still fun to talk to. I'm glad I have these opportunities to talk with others no matter what stage of life they are in.