Survivor

(Read in Jeff Probst's voice) On the east coast of India...21 girls and an anxious mama are placed in a prison-like four story building for an entire 6 weeks... in the middle of a town with not much to do. Temperatures rise, ranging from 90-115 degrees Fahrenheit. Many will play, many will fight. Will there be more than one, sole, survivor? *Ayioyoyoyiahh...music  

So. I survived day one of summer vacation.

AND it was mostly a success.

I let my big kids know (my room is in their apartment), that they can stay up til 10 pm now, instead of 9:30. And that by doing so, I expect NO ONE to be awake before 6:30 nor knock on my door before 7 a.m., preferably 7:30.  They seemed appalled, but when I got up at 7:15, no one had bathed or dressed, and some were still even sleeping.  I also woke up, NOT sick for the first time in eight days, AND got to eat dosa.  Combined, it's like my own little summer miracle. :)

The past week, knowing that summer was coming meant believing one thing: I had to be prepared.  So, I tried. And made a schedule of which even my mother would be proud.  (Except that it's not color-coded. Yet.)

My kids sometimes struggle in school, and I see this as stemming from 3 main reasons:

• little parental influence to encourage/compel them to strive for success and/or attend school.  (I'm sure many of our kids didn't go to school prior to coming to SCH, and I admit I've been pretty terrible at even knowing what things each kid knows or can do.)
• the schools don't really accommodate education for their disabilities in the best way (be it environment, social relationships, or teaching styles)
• no intrinsic motivation.  After all, if you're 16 and in class 4, something like graduating high school must seem like an impossible feat.

So, the education manager and I talked, and there's a lot of tutoring going on this summer at Grace Home. I love that all of my girls with severe visual deficits have 3:1 student-teacher ratio classes all day.  Even Chelsea and Angel are sharing a tutor with Phoebe to learn their letters and numbers and something other than "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes!" (That's my input to their education.)

While they're all (mostly) busy, but still getting enough time to hang out and play and be kids in 105 degree weather, I am simultaneously giving typing/computer classes to 2 kiddos, letting another play (mostly educational) games on the tablet, and doing individual tutoring/therapy sessions with a fourth--in 30 minute increments.  When I made the schedule, I had a sense that I could be headed for disaster, but it actually went crazy smoothly today.  (It also helped that each and every one of the 21 buggers could see their time slot for playing games on the tablet, so they weren't crying about it not being their turn!)

I should mention that my gut tells me that the sanity will disappear in time.  It started to this afternoon, but then we made the excellent decision that 3 kids who weren't going to get much tutoring at home definitely needed to go to "summer camp" at school each weekday morning.  This is just a polite way of saying "GET THIS CHILD OUT OF MY HOUSE!" :) or, at least for one of them haha!

I know, with 21 kids, I struggle with giving each one some time where it's just me and them. I also struggle with making sure that I'm having more than enough fun time with the kids--because unfortunately, disciplining and/or strategizing on how to manage the kids/home has been really frequent lately, and my ayahs need much more watching and direction than they should.  So, even though I look at my schedule and just laugh because it is intense and ridiculous, it's really good:  the kids could not be happier than playing math or letter-tracing games on the tablet or learning to use the touchpad on my laptop, so that's not much of a challenge to motivate them to learn :)  And for most of the girls today, I've seen that that little thirty minute segment, where it's just me and them doing something on our own, means a lot.  And that makes me happy because I finally feel like I'm doing something right and giving each kid some of what they need.

All this said, of course there will be lots of beach trips and park visits and daily walks in the evening and nightly rooftop fun--and hopefully some massive bucket that we can call a swimming pool.  So, don't be worrying about them not getting enough fun!

To make today even better, I went on a walk in the crazy heat to work on my suntan (I've gotten a bit pale from being sick inside so much).  Ok, really it was just a walk to go order ice cream for our party tomorrow, and put more rupees on my cell phone, but I worked on my suntan nevertheless. AND I came across the first mango stand I've seen this year.

Be still my heart. So, after a delicious mango shared with Grace Purple for a snack, and another for "dinner," it was an overall pretty good day. Made better by knowing that when this summer break and this time as a crazed mother ends in two months, a particularly special someone will be waiting for me in Delhi, to spend a few days there together before flying home to Missourah.

:D

Did YOU Know Easter is Next Week?

I didn't, until today after my kids' Sunday School.
This is what happens in a world without Easter bunnies and spring breaks and hideous pastel colors flooding Wal-mart.  I gotta say, it's nice being without all the American materialism.

Quite a few changes have been happening in my home since April began:

• I arrived home one evening to find that I had a new teenager with no information about her.  That was a slight surprise.  I won't be giving anymore information about her other than that she's gorgeous and absolutely wonderful, as she's only here temporarily and I would like to protect her privacy.  Anyways, that made me the 22 year old mother of 22 kids.  Exciting stuff.
•  Then there were birthdays.  Lots and lots of birthdays.  So, my kids now range from ages 3-16.  It also gives me a valid reason to scold my ayahs when I see them feeding the newly 3 year old Chelsea and not making her go to the toilet.  SHE'S THREE YEARS OLD, SHE'S NOT A BABY! I yell. And then I take her little chubby right hand and put it in the rice bowl, (she sheds a tear), I bring her hand clutching the rice to her mouth, and she magically decides she can eat the entire contents of the bowl. It's magic, I tell you.

• Friday was exciting.  I turned 23.  That itself wasn't overly exciting as I was busy fulfilling a dream of mine by sending one of my daughters to Hyderabad for adoption things.  She'll live there and work on her English skills with a private tutor before having her second court date and going home with her forever family once and for all!  We had all the schoolkids over for an ice cream party on our roof and then a group prayer time before saying goodbye. 

 Now, one of her sisters was having a pretty hard time saying goodbye, but considering that the water tank was overflowing and trying to flood the roof and the number of the little and/or inattentive children present, no one else seemed to have much chance to think about feelings.  So, that was good, and I was grateful the tears didn't pour out from everywhere. BUT as the mama, it was really hard to watch this daughter say goodbye to each of her sisters as the party finished.  They were being silly and joking and teasing--not really understanding that this could be the last time they will ever see each other. I understood that though, and it broke my heart.  But, her leaving is first and foremost a happy thing, and I'm not complaining that I'm back down to 21 kiddos!

• Most every child in my home has since learned that adoption is actually a real thing, not something imaginary like it probably used to seem.  I know this because EVERY verbal child in my home has asked me, "'Murica? My Amurica going, sister?" each day.  And some, like Jeanette and Phoebe and Jackie, tend to ask about every 5 minutes.  Some kids, like Jackie, are little and adorable and spunky, and they have a pretty good chance of being adopted--locally or internationally. For others, like Hannah and Christina--not so much.  I get the not-so-fun job of explaining that some kids will go to America, some kids will go to Italy (where's that, mummy?), some kids will go to Hyderabad, some kids might go to Delhi, and some kids will stay here in Ongole with Sarahakka.  
• We reached our $1k goal for furnishing our homes!  Our new furniture was delivered Wednesday, and there still is no rice hiding between the cushions! Can you tell that Heidi and Angel like their new nap spot?
  
• 18 of 21 kids have new haircuts.  Some of these were much easier than others. Keep in mind, I'd never cut anyone's hair other than my own until I started on a curly haired kid. Luckily, most of them turned out pretty well.  I did introduce this thing called "layers" to their hair, and they're not necessarily so much of a fan of those. But, it does make them look awfully cuter!
  
  
  
• We went on a walk this afternoon with every single member of my family and 2 ayahs.  I love that Paula gets to be apart of these things now that she has her wheelchair!  AND she got to be like the other big girls and help a little one by holding (and buckling in) Chelsea on her lap.  Let's just say they both thought they were pretty cool stuff!  On this walk, we also got to meet Leo, the new puppy at Truth Home. I wish I had brought my camera...
• Finally, my last and VERY important update:  Angel has learned how to sing, finally.  She turns four next month and I'm really trying to work on basic preschool level things & speech with her and Chelsea.  Angel sang some version of what sounded like "Jesus Loves Me" the other day, and last night we sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on the way home from getting my parotha & chana daal.  Because obviously, a white girl and the world's cutest 3 year old don't attract enough attention around Ongole and need a little bit  more :)