I've been able to convince my girls that they need to keep their favorite stuffed toy (otherwise known here as "dou dou") in their beds. They absolutely have to have them when they go to bed and we've spent many an evening searching for one or both of them after losing it sometime during the day. We were coasting along fine for months and I was no longer even thinking about it when it happened. Dou dou as my daughter Colleen calls hers, was missing. She climbed into bed, looked under her pillow and he was not there. We searched under the covers, under the bed, all around the bedroom, all the while she's frantically crying out "dou dou!". Thus began a search and rescue mission mostly by papa and me. But to no avail. Absolutely could not find it. We had been out during the day but I was certain she had not brought it with so I knew it was somewhere in the house, it was just too late at that point to continue looking for it. Luckily for us, Colleen does have others and one in particular named "boo" which she especially liked when she was teething, she just recently rediscovered. I explained to her just a few days before that as a baby she had it with her all the time and that is why he's missing a leg. She chewed it off. She looked very sad at that point and was afraid she had hurt him but I reassured her that boo was happy she had chosen him for teething when she was a baby. So I told her she could sleep with boo and that the next day we would certainly find dou dou. She agreed, no doubt in large part because she was so tired and just wanted to sleep. I felt like I had won a major victory. I was really worried she was going to fight to find him there and then. Aaah relief!
The next morning, I was searching first thing, at this point she didn't seem that concerned. I'm thinking I was more worried than she was. After looking through a toy box full of stuffed toys, we were starting to go through again and my husband picked up a clown hat and found him inside, nicely hidden from sight!
Needless to say dou dou has not moved from her bed since. Sometimes all the drama and tears are worth it for the lesson learned; even at the age of 4.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Hi Margie,
What a charming story. These are episodes that you surely will relish when your children are older.
I unfortunately, do not have these joys of family life. I could not have children. But, I do enjoy hearing about families, and how the children grow up.
Do your children also speak English ? It's interesting to see bilingual families. Next door, the Mom is Austrian & Pop, French. The kids understand German and French.
It's a good start for children to understand another language from a young age.
Take care, and have a nice day.
Hi Barbara,
That's one of the reasons I started a blog was to record little "day to day" events that otherwise would be forgotten over time. My children do speak english but with a little effort. I speak only english to them(my husband only french) and they understand absolutely everything in both. But they tend to answer me more in french. Especially once they're in school. When we visit my family in Chicago, the english really takes off of course. Helps to be surrounded by it.
It's fascinating to watch them master both languages. They're like sponges picking it up so effortlessly when for us it's so much harder!
Hi Marge,
Ok, I figured out how to post on your blog! Glad you found Dou Dou. Looking forward to reading all about your adventures!
Matt is on an antibiotic for his ears. He felt much better this afternoon. We have a carnival party Saturday night. Me, Andrea and Rita are dressing as pirates. So I'm glad my kids will be healthy. We've all put a lot of work into these costumes; plus, we're celebrating some 40th b-days.
Enough about my stuff. This is your blog....I have to remember to send you emails also!
oh, and I haven't talked to Fatime.
Lynn
Hi again Margie,
Thank you for answering me about the language question.
I think that they understand a lot ! This is the time of their lives when the learning is almost " effortless".
My own Mom, who is Japanese, never once spoke to me in her language. English, all the time. It didn't matter if it was sometimes broken.
She only spoke Japanese to family & friends.
I regrettted it later; I could have understood Japanese.
But, that probably opened the door for other experiences and voilà,
French arrived in my life.
Take care,
Post a Comment