We're in Washington, D.C. now. We left Guyana in December 2015 and spent some time in Florida before driving up the coast here to D.C. (part of the reason we were in Florida was to do some house-hunting). Initially we were excited to be back in the U.S. and have access to so many things again, but it has taken me a while to properly transition. One hard thing was trying not to go overboard with all the restaurants and grocery items we missed over the past two years. We spent way too much money our first couple of months here. And we don't have any of the perks that we had in Guyana, like the pay adjustment for being at a "hardship" post, or the cost-of-living adjustment. Also, no more frequent vacations due to local + U.S. holidays. Another thing that didn't help was arriving in the middle of snowy winter. I felt boxed into our apartment and could never seem to get warm. :) The kids also had many snow days from school, so the sporadic schedule kind of threw me off. It also took me a while to get Jasmine into a preschool because many had no openings or were simply too expensive. Finally I got her into a co-op. It's a great school and it's very affordable. I did a co-op preschool with Rose and Simon, so I'm familiar with how they run, and I like the sense of community they foster. However, this school is only 3x a week, and Jasmine was going 5x a week in Guyana. So I think that was a hard adjustment for her. On Jasmine's "off" days, I'm always racking my brain trying to find ways to fill our time. When Rose and Simon were little, they at least had each other for entertainment. It took me a while to find Jasmine some little friends, and she still doesn't have quite the "clique" she had in Guyana (her old preschool teacher told me she was a "leader" type and was confident amongst her peers). Nevertheless things are going well now. Her current teacher still tells me she is doing well at school. Thankfully Jasmine is never too clingy or shy.
Back to her "off" days, though...I feel like I do need to allow her to be bored so she can come up with her own things to do, and sometimes she does, but I still get nervous when she complains of being bored all the time. And I rely on the T.V. far too much. When Rose and Simon were little I felt like I was more creative with the little activities or projects I created for their enrichment. Now I feel tapped out. Also, this is weird, but I always feel like I want to kill two birds with one stone. For example, with Rose and Simon I would go to museums and they'd both benefit, including Jasmine who would tag along. Now I feel like I don't really want to take Jasmine to a museum alone because my other kids aren't there to also get something out of it. And I feel like I've switched gears to elementary school mode, so it's hard to revert back to preschool mode. For example, I took Jasmine to the American History Museum the other day, and it was hard for me to figure out how to make it an enriching experience for her. The big kids have longer attention spans and I'm used to that. We did end up heading next door to the butterfly exhibit at the Natural History Museum, and Jasmine enjoyed riding the metro. And I don't want to make it sound like poor Jasmine is just the neglected third child. We do many nice things, and I think she also learns a lot from her big brother and sister. She is really looking forward to being a big sister herself! I'm interested to see how the family dynamics change once our baby girl is born at the end of August.
Our family also has one other new little member since last blogging: Lily the hamster:
Jasmine used her to spy on me once in the bathroom. Yes, I was obviously checking my phone whilst on the toilet...why else would I have had a camera available to snap a photo?
We got Lily as soon as we arrived to Virginia. The kids have always wanted a dog, but we just can't swing that with this kind of lifestyle. So we settled for a hamster. We knew we'd be here in the states long enough to make it worth it, and when the time comes to leave, finding someone else to care for her will be much easier than it would be with a dog. So far she has been a good little pet. It's interesting to see how the kids have become more comfortable with her. Rose was the one who really wanted her, so she was very excited from the get-go. However, it took her a while to become comfortable handling her. I'd say Jasmine was never really scared to hold her. The littlest sister has no fear. :) Simon is still reluctant to be near her at all, but he tolerates her presence.
Something funny that happened recently was Lily's escape. One day some neighbor kids were over, and they were playing around with Lily's cage. I'm almost certain that a little neighbor boy had broken her wheel, unbeknownst to us. The next day we discovered that Lily was not in her cage...it appeared that she had probably escaped out of her broken wheel. Rose was super sad, and I was too. We searched as best we could, but I just figured she had probably escaped through some tiny hole in the wall and was out exploring the big wide world. Well, a couple of days later as I was lying in bed, I saw a small shadow go into my closet. I went there and turned on the light, and saw Lily scurry somewhere into the corner! I called Sevak over and I nervously shuffled through shoes and stuff, but she never appeared. I think she scooted by me while I wasn't looking. Well, I knew she was nearby and thankfully in the house, so that night I left her cage open by my bedroom door. I put a baby carrot close to the cage, and in the middle of the night, I heard her wheel spinning! She had gone back into her cage on her own. Something about her return was so endearing to me...in the end she just wanted to be back in her little spinning wheel. The kids were thrilled in the morning. Also, that carrot that I put near her cage was completely gone. She must have been starving! Poor, cute little thing.
So folks, I think that's all for now. I will try to make blogging a habit again.
Peace out.
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