A successful day

Given how terribly rotten last Tuesday was, I was a little hesitant about this Tuesday. I wasn't 100% sure that R. wouldn't walk into the space that had such unpleasant memories from last week and melt down. Thankfully, she was fine, and everyone enjoyed their day at co-op. R. colored in her coloring book (a lot, which is a special treat) and played a bit with her Goldilocks and the Three Bears house play set that we brought. She was pretty tired when we got home, though. And as all parents know, an overly tired child can be very difficult to put to bed and actually have sleep. There were some dicey moments getting her into bed a little bit ago.

Everyone else continues to enjoy their classes at co-op, and I continue to be very impressed with the families and the teachers. They have embraced my children, even the ones who can be a bit more challenging to teach. I keep meaning to take some pictures of some of the artwork that has been coming home. (Maybe I'll remember for Friday's post.) I have been very impressed with what the art teacher pulls out of them.

I had been bringing knitting to work on since the first week, because I don't sit still well. That first week, due to having some time on their hands, the three youngest decided that perhaps they wanted to knit, too. I had some extra needles and yarn in my bag, so tried to show them how to knit. Because of not having quite the right supplies to teach a beginning knitter, it was a little frustrating for them. I promised that for the next week, I would get together yarn and needles which would be easier to use, and I did. But last week, well... knitting didn't happen.

This week was a different story, and G., L., and Y. were set to learn. I had taught Y. to knit three years ago, but she needed a refresher, but G. and L. had never knitted before. I was pretty amazed at how quickly all three of them caught on and were knitting away with very little corrective knitting from me. Next week I think we will work on learning to purl.

The knitting lessons happen during the last hour of the day that we are there, which is also when one of H.'s classes meet. When we got home, H. sidled up to me and started asking in her rather round about manner about the thing that G., L., and Y. were doing. Even after seven years home, it is very difficult for her to come right out and ask for something that she wants. I had thrown in five sets of needles and yarn, because you just never know, and so had a set for her. I asked her if she wanted to learn, and she said yes.

We spent the next chunk of time working on her knitting. She can do it, but still needs me next to her to remind her of each step, and to make sure she is inserting her needle and wrapping her thread in the correct direction. I'm afraid I can only sit with her for two rows doing this (because remember, I'm not really patient), so it will be a long term project to get her to knit independently. I know this frustrates her because she can see how quickly the other girls can knit after only just learning. Her awareness of how she compares to others... what they can do and how fast they can do it... is a relatively new thing. I don't see it getting any easier. I wish I could change that for her.

A big reason I could spend time helping H. begin to learn to knit was that I didn't have to make dinner. Tonight's dinner was supplied by our pastor, as a way to help us out from the constant needs of R. It was most appreciated. We love this new church of ours.

So that was my nice, normal day. Mundane never felt so good to write about.
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If you missed it the first time, here is my most recent published article: Adoption Travel and How to Prepare  It could use some social media love, so any clicks or shares you care to give it are most appreciated.
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Finally, my niece's fiance has designed a very cool Vans shoe design and entered it into a contest to have it made. I happen to think it's a pretty cool design. Want to see?



I mean, who doesn't want shoes with koi on them? Here is what he has written about the contest,

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I need your votes because I would love for my design to be worn by thousands of people around the world! Here's how to vote:
1. Go to https://custom-culture.vans.com/gallery
2. Scroll down until so see images of shoes and the "search by username" search bar
3. Type "Toshio"
4. Click "Vote"

You can vote once per day on each device (Phone, computer, iPad, etc.). Please share this with your friends and family and have them share it with their friends and family! Your support is greatly appreciated!>>

So, if you like the design, feel free to vote. Thus ends my little bout of self-promotion for myself and family members.