Summer camp - Lohikan 2015.

Judging from her pictures, Mina had a great summer!  Following a very successful 9th birthday party, she headed off to camp for a full 4 weeks!  Thank goodness for pictures, or we'd have no way of knowing what she was up to!  Snail mail delivery of letters back to BDA did not work so well.

Great counselors.

Lots of outdoor, electronic free time!

So many new friends.

Girl time!

My super swimmer.

A chance to perform!

Many mom friends asked me whether I was nervous about sending Mina away for so many weeks solo.  I've realized that the idea of sleep away camp is a bit foreign for most of the ex pats here.

I never did sleep away camp as a child, but for some kids, it was a summer ritual.  Jeff recalls most of his friends in Brooklyn leaving for the summer, and I loved hearing stories Grandma H told of her summers away in camp.  For upstate kids like me, camp was our backyard, so that was the end of it! It might be a city thing.

Obviously, you have to know your own child's maturity level to assess whether they are ready for the adjustment of being away for so long.  Mina begged us let her go for the full summer, but I wasn't ready for that.  So I compromised and gave her four weeks.  This was also her second year of going to this  camp, so i felt more comfortable knowing she was in great hands.  She's also very self directed, social, and loves group activities.  In other words, camp is a perfect fit for her!

My only concerns, and they remain so, are exposing her to kids that are much older than she is, and are also very Americanized.  

Just to explain... Living here in BDA, the kids grow up with a very different sort of cultural environment.  It's really one of my favorite parts of living here - the culture of politeness and respect and innocence that exists.  It's very old school, in a sense.. The please, and thank you, and "good morning" greetings, the way children address grown ups, etc.  I'm American, and very proud of it, thank you ... but I do worry a bit that kids grow up,way too fast back home.  Here in BDA, they get to stay kids a lot longer.  It's just a very different atmosphere.

At any rate, Mina survived, and had a fantastic time.  Her counselors were like the big sisters she never had, and she loved her bunk mates.  I missed her like crazy, and I counted down the days till I could get her back.  

At the same time though, it was also a mini lesson for me in letting go.  Isn't that the hardest job as a parent - trusting that you've taught your child how to behave and why, and letting them venture out in short doses?

On the verge of double digits. Nine year old Mina

Miss Bean turns nine in just a few more days.  We do love birthdays in this house, but seeing my little girl grow up is making me a bit weepy.



This shot put it in perspective for me.  I had to take the kids to get their passport pictures updated.  Five years ago, I took them to get their first ones done.  How much they have grown since then.



Sometimes I can still see that roly-poly baby face in there



And then sometimes, there is this.



Mina, you will always be a superstar.  Do you realize how many talents you have?  Whether it's in school, singing or dancing on stage, or being a part of our family - you shine with such brilliance.







I wish I could capture it in words.  You do so much and make it look effortless.  That makes me recall the way I was when I was in school.  I always worked hard.  I took all of it seriously.  I never made a fuss.  I did what I needed to do and what was expected of me.  But in the process, I suspect people took that for granted. 



I hope I never do that with you. 

We could not ask for more - we've been blessed with a fantastic daughter.

You make me so proud to be your mother. 



Not only are you a good kid.  You are genuinely a GOOD kid.  You have a beautiful, generous soul. 



You have such a way with people.  Ever since you learned to talk, you managed to win people over with your smiles, your conversation, and your ability to always know what to say.



As you get older, and start to cover uncharted territory, I hope you will always rely on the inner grace that has guided you so well.  It's not easy.  There will be new challenges you face, new friends to meet, old ones who may not always grow with you.  Our time here will be drawing to a close too, and with that, you will learn what it's like to say good bye.

I have faith in you. 

You will rock being nine.

love,
Mom

Commencing the celebrations - round one.

Mina turned three today. She's gone from this:



to this:



There have been other changes as well - such as her relationship with her older brother. It started off like this:



And now, it's more like this:









Mina's handling three quite well, I'd say. She's been readying herself for this moment for the last six months or so... about the same time Jordan turned four. Witnessing his birthday unfolding sent her into some sort of existential tail spin, and she's been eager to age as soon as possible.

Today was the day. We plan on having a celebratory birthday party this weekend, but we couldn't let the day go by without making just a teeny bit of a fuss.



We visited Mina at school today (it's also conveniently her last day of school), and brought some treats to share with the class. Mina reacted with her usual stoicism.

Her brother was thrilled to ditch his classes and join in celebrating with the young 'uns.





I'm slightly embarrassed that I did not have the time to do an elaborate baking extravaganza, as I've been preoccupied with planning, baking and shopping for the party this weekend.

So, I copped out and brought in ice cream instead.



I daresay, Mina did not seem to mind.







In three years, Mina has become a force in her own right. She's a teeny little thing, with an oversize personality. Sometimes, I just have to stare at her and wonder how so much human got crammed into such an itty-bitty body. She can be sweet, girlish, silly, possessive, demanding, loving, cuddly, brilliant, and immature, all in the course of 24 hours.



And that's just part of the reason why we love her so.

I honestly couldn't imagine what our family would be like without her. She just completes us. When she smiles at me in the morning, I feel like the sun has woken me up. And when she laughs and holds my hand, I feel as though all is right in the world.



Happy Birthday Princess.

Mina at Pre-K.

I started Miss Mina's day on the wrong foot by waking her up at 7:00. That never bodes well. Like mother, like daughter - we are not morning people.





"It won't be so bad, Mina!"



"Trust me!"



Fiercely clutching her pink dog, Miss Mina marched down the stairs. Armed with nothing more than her two ponytails and a puffy jacket, she faced the great unknown - bravely.



"Here I go, Mom!"



"Ready??"



Drop off went well. She ran into the classroom and busied herself immediately.

I didn't hear anything from the school all morning. I checked my cellphone a dozen times to make sure it was working. It was only when I came back to pick her up that I realized poor Mina did not have the best first day.

Her little face was red, her nose was running, and when she saw me parked outside the school, she burst into tears and began shouting "Mama!" as loud as she could. The school has a policy of bringing the kids to the car for pickup, with strict instructions to the parents not to leave the car.

It was hard seeing her cry all the way to the car and there was little I could do to comfort her.

I emailed her teacher later to ask what had happened. This poor woman. Last year she had Jordan. This year, it's Mina. She very promptly wrote me back:

Hello,

Mina was so happy when you left her this morning. However, after about 45 minutes she realized you were gone and got upset. She began crying a little bit and then it was a little difficult for her to enjoy herself. She ate snack and her lunch without any difficulty. She also took a nap for about an hour. In the afternoon she was better, a little upset but did her art project without a problem. She was so cute ... She said that she hates school and she wasn't coming tomorrow.I hope tomorrow will be a better day ! See you tomorrow,

Ms. M

Ah yes. Tomorrow is another day. Now, this is a perfect example of what happens to parents when they have a second child. I know full well Mina is going to love school. I know this tiny blip on the horizon of her preschool experience is something we will fondly laugh over one day. I know because I've lived through this with Jordan.

If he can survive preschool in one piece, I know Mina can.

A Big Day for Bean

I wasn't sure this day would ever happen. Yet, here it is. I don't think she even realizes it yet.



I hope she's ready. I think she is, although I'm a little nervous.



Our little Bean starts preschool tomorrow.





We practiced wearing our backpack this evening.



Jordan showed her how it's done.



It wasn't that long ago that I was toting her around like one.

sadi rani

Thank God the holidays are over and life is back on schedule. For us, that means school and a full complement of kiddie classes to keep the monkeys occupied. While her brother wiles away his mornings in preschool three days a week, our little queen has the house to herself.



Not really. We're not home that much. Miss Mina's schedule is every bit as full as her brothers. Two different gym classes..an art class..the occasional story hour...and of course, playdates... But, we officially take Monday morning off. It's our time.



After dropping the Monkey off at school, we have three whole hours just to ourselves. We get home, clean up the morning breakfast mess, toss a load or two of laundry in the machine, read some good books, color without interruption, practice the words in our Big Word Book, do some folding, some cleaning, snack a little..

As an aside, it still amazes me when I hear Mina utter a new word. Do I expect that she's just going to babble nonsensical syllables her whole life? Do I expect that she's going to remain a happy little marshmallow forever? No, of course not. You'd think I'd be more seasoned as a mother, since she's the second. But I'm still stunned. One minute she's this little butterball toddling around the house, and the next, she's trying to explain what she wants...like pointing to her bunny, or to the refrigerator. This weekend, Jeff insisted that she walked up to him and said "poo" twice. And sure enough....well. You can figure out the rest.



These days the princess is thrilled to point out the various components of her face - her nose, her mouth, her eyes, her ears, her chin. She also likes to point them out on my face..usually when I am least expecting it. It's ok. A light poke in the eye or nose doesn't do too much damage. Except when she pokes me in the pupil. Then I remember the stern warnings of the eye doctor. Take it easy, he said. Your eyes need time to recover from the surgery. It cracks me up. No one explained the rules of post-op care to the kids.

Before you know it, it's 11:30, and time to go back and pick up the Monkey. We bundle up in our warm jackets (argh, I hate winter!), put our shoes back on, and waddle outside the door. Because we're all independent now, I can't carry her. She does it herself. It doesn't matter that the clock is ticking, and if I'm late picking the monkey up, not only will he be devastated, but I will get charged in fifteen minute increments.

To date, I have never been late, in fact I am usually early. It's probably because I have horrible memories of being the last one picked up from my tennis, softball, track, drama club practices all throughout school. My parents were on CP time. Or in our case, PT. (That's Pakistani time, for the uninitiated. It usually means showing up at least an hour after the designated time on the invitation. At least an hour. This may be fine for a wedding reception, but it doesn't work so well in other aspects of real life. And it doesn't do much for a teenager's self esteem as she sits there waiting, alone, in the dark doorways of her school, praying for the day when she gets her driver's permit so she can drive her own self around.)

Thank God we lived upstate where they let 16 year olds drive around. And my parents actually trusted us enough to let us do it! My kids won't be so lucky. I'm not that nice.