Back to the real world on Tuesday
So all of our dinnertime prayers have been somehting along the lines of "Dear God, help Andrei not be such a spaz, and please, PLEASE let us get internet back soon" Apparantly God needed the extra 'please' ;)
The instruction book for the internet connection was wrong, so the apartment manager had to send a tech out (500R), but the door buzzer doesn't work so when he (supposably) came yesterday "we weren't home" (we were). Today we called a bunch of times and assured them that we would be home and please just come up and knock on the door. And he finally showed up around 5 PM.
And the phone - we couldn't call home either. The apartment advertises free international calling, but every time we'd call the number it wouldn't accept the passcode. Then we figured out it was because all the phones are pulse (like a rotary phone). Today we finally found a phone on a bottom shelf, not plugged in, that had pulse and tone settings. So we hooked it up and I finally called my mom about 4:30 CST, but she was happy to hear that we were alive and well.
And, we got the TV to speak English, which makes Andrei very unhappy, but we sneak it in once in a while. It actually makes the cartoons more annoying, so we switch it back to Russia every time.
We are all going stir-crazy here. The weather is bad and there are no parks nearby. So Andrei just watches TV all the time. Nickelodean and Cartoon Network. It's getting old. Brent and he had a tickle fight one morning, and the neighbor lady pounded on our door and cussed him out, so now we have to keep sort of quiet on top of everything.
Today we had no appointments or anything to do, so I decided to start homeschooling. Haha.
I brought him in the kitchen and he colored a picture. Then he traced his name and wrote it for the first time in the correct order. Then he ran away. So I bribed him back with candy and taught him the colors with M&Ms. Then we did half of a puzzle and he ran away again. The candy bribe didn't work, so Brent held him on his lap and we looked at his picture book and said the animals (his first English word was Lion - he learned it a couple of days ago) and then we named body parts. Then we sang the ABC song and 'Silent Night' Then he was getting all worked up so we did our 'exercies'. We did non-jumping jacks, and touched our toes and did situps and push ups and stood on one foot. Then he hid under the bed, so we gave up.
It lasted about forty five minutes - not bad for a first run. :)
Then we ate lunch and went back to playing in the bedroom. I needed a break so I decided to take a walk and see what was around. It was raining lightly, but at least it wasn't too cold. There is nothing around. No parks, no children's things, nothing. There is a very expensive mall that I got the evil eye for walking through and a bank. So I went back home.
Later Andrei was getting stir-crazy again, so we all decided to go for a walk, and go the other way from where I went. There was a restaurant we might try (bring the dictionary), a movie theater, a few higher end shops, I think a mall, and some casinos. Andrei looked cold so we stopped at the grocery store for some water and then went home. There were some teenss begging in the underpass, and I couldn't even look up because I thought I'd cry. :( All I kept thinking about was Andrei's siblings and what will become of them (they're all adults so no adoptions for us) He's never met any of them. I wonder if he has younger siblings that we dont' know about. :(
Three of the Bradshaws went home today - the mom and the two girls. They had to get back to school, so dad stayed with Sasha and is leaving the same day we are. I'm not sure when we're going to hook up with them again, but for sure on Sunday we're going to try church so we'll see them then.
Well, Brent and Andrei are both asleep so I should probably wiggle my way in between Kick-Boy and the wall. :) Tomorrow will be a better day that we can find something to do! Or at least introduce Andrei to the wonders of the internet..... (don't tell Brent)
Oh yeah, Andrei got really really mad at me for the first time today. I didn't take it personally. He kept putting our (well, his now) luggage keys in his mouth and a couple of kopek coins that he found so I took them away. He hid in the corner for a half hour and told Brent that he didn't love me. I'm sure that won't be the first time. A few hours later I gave them back only after making him repeat after me "Nee ruble yest" and "Nee klooch yest" (don't eat the rubles and the keys). And now he's forgotten all about it of course.
The instruction book for the internet connection was wrong, so the apartment manager had to send a tech out (500R), but the door buzzer doesn't work so when he (supposably) came yesterday "we weren't home" (we were). Today we called a bunch of times and assured them that we would be home and please just come up and knock on the door. And he finally showed up around 5 PM.
And the phone - we couldn't call home either. The apartment advertises free international calling, but every time we'd call the number it wouldn't accept the passcode. Then we figured out it was because all the phones are pulse (like a rotary phone). Today we finally found a phone on a bottom shelf, not plugged in, that had pulse and tone settings. So we hooked it up and I finally called my mom about 4:30 CST, but she was happy to hear that we were alive and well.
And, we got the TV to speak English, which makes Andrei very unhappy, but we sneak it in once in a while. It actually makes the cartoons more annoying, so we switch it back to Russia every time.
We are all going stir-crazy here. The weather is bad and there are no parks nearby. So Andrei just watches TV all the time. Nickelodean and Cartoon Network. It's getting old. Brent and he had a tickle fight one morning, and the neighbor lady pounded on our door and cussed him out, so now we have to keep sort of quiet on top of everything.
Today we had no appointments or anything to do, so I decided to start homeschooling. Haha.
I brought him in the kitchen and he colored a picture. Then he traced his name and wrote it for the first time in the correct order. Then he ran away. So I bribed him back with candy and taught him the colors with M&Ms. Then we did half of a puzzle and he ran away again. The candy bribe didn't work, so Brent held him on his lap and we looked at his picture book and said the animals (his first English word was Lion - he learned it a couple of days ago) and then we named body parts. Then we sang the ABC song and 'Silent Night' Then he was getting all worked up so we did our 'exercies'. We did non-jumping jacks, and touched our toes and did situps and push ups and stood on one foot. Then he hid under the bed, so we gave up.
It lasted about forty five minutes - not bad for a first run. :)
Then we ate lunch and went back to playing in the bedroom. I needed a break so I decided to take a walk and see what was around. It was raining lightly, but at least it wasn't too cold. There is nothing around. No parks, no children's things, nothing. There is a very expensive mall that I got the evil eye for walking through and a bank. So I went back home.
Later Andrei was getting stir-crazy again, so we all decided to go for a walk, and go the other way from where I went. There was a restaurant we might try (bring the dictionary), a movie theater, a few higher end shops, I think a mall, and some casinos. Andrei looked cold so we stopped at the grocery store for some water and then went home. There were some teenss begging in the underpass, and I couldn't even look up because I thought I'd cry. :( All I kept thinking about was Andrei's siblings and what will become of them (they're all adults so no adoptions for us) He's never met any of them. I wonder if he has younger siblings that we dont' know about. :(
Three of the Bradshaws went home today - the mom and the two girls. They had to get back to school, so dad stayed with Sasha and is leaving the same day we are. I'm not sure when we're going to hook up with them again, but for sure on Sunday we're going to try church so we'll see them then.
Well, Brent and Andrei are both asleep so I should probably wiggle my way in between Kick-Boy and the wall. :) Tomorrow will be a better day that we can find something to do! Or at least introduce Andrei to the wonders of the internet..... (don't tell Brent)
Oh yeah, Andrei got really really mad at me for the first time today. I didn't take it personally. He kept putting our (well, his now) luggage keys in his mouth and a couple of kopek coins that he found so I took them away. He hid in the corner for a half hour and told Brent that he didn't love me. I'm sure that won't be the first time. A few hours later I gave them back only after making him repeat after me "Nee ruble yest" and "Nee klooch yest" (don't eat the rubles and the keys). And now he's forgotten all about it of course.
posted by Tracy at 12:00 PM
1 Comments:
Its wonderful to be in communication again! All children tell their "mom" that they don't love them. They are expressing themselves. Do whats right, you are the parent . . . you are bigger than he is. :-)
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