Day 6 is truly Day 6 – whether you are counting the days up or counting the days down. Thus far in our Mariupol Marathon I’ve counted the days up. But since I’m into the “psychology” of it all, tomorrow I will start counting the days down! No matter how you slice it, Monday we collect our Mariupol prize & board a train to Odessa (my favorite Ukraine destination!)!
I’ve noticed that in Mariupol, the sun doesn’t come up. It just gets daylight, but the sun doesn’t really come up. Any guesses why that might be? Maybe it’s a smog thing… because eventually, the sun comes out & we have us a lovely, warm afternoon (as evidenced by this cat that is out cold in the grass!).
Our visit with Henry was better today but he still dismissed us early. At least today he said “goodbye”. Well, the first time he left the room to go hang out with his friend in the next room, he did not say anything (again, crawled over Richard & walked out of the room). I let this go on for all of about 20 seconds & I went & got him. He then left & it seems like he went to the bathroom (trust me, I made sure he wasn’t in the next room). But shortly after he returned, he was done with us & he hugged us both, said “goodbye” & went in the other room to be with his friend.
Prior to our visit today, I realized that I had two issues with what was going on: 1 – We do not intend to be the type of parents to overindulge our kids (at least not *every day*!)which is exactly what is happening, and 2 – by doing this, I feel like we are misleading him; this is not real life. It feels dishonest.
Well, today add #3 to the list; we are overindulging him & it’s *still* not good enough. He *still* dismisses us! Yikes…. If that ain’t “welcome to parenthood”! He didn’t even break us in gently!
Despite our little family train being way off track, for the next four days, some version of this derailment will likely continue. We can make a few additional minor adjustments (as we did today) to improve things, but to be quite honest, two hours is too long for a kid to sit around with his new parents who don’t speak his language. Even if we *could* talk to each other, hanging out (indoors – when it is gorgeous outside!) for two hours is probably too long. And, in all fairness to Henry, he wants to spend time with his friend. I don’t know for sure, but I assume he realizes he will not see his friend again after a few more days. Really; now is probably not time to crack the whip on the kid.
And on his behalf, he does seem to enjoy his time with us…for the most part. I guess that is going to have to be good enough for now.
Tomorrow our court decree will be available & we will obtain Henry’s new birth certificate (I don’t know why I’m pretty sure I’ll cry when I see it – although, I’m sure the sentiment will be damped by the fact that it will be in Russian & I cannot read it – still, I’ll know what it says!) & apply for his passport (2 bumpy hours away in Donetsk). I think we will be in the car for the better part of the day. And I’ve given great consideration to this whole driving-in-Ukraine thing & it occurred to me today that there is no such thing as tailgating here; it’s simply called “driving”. I also think potholes & overall poor road conditions are to be credited for the apparent low accident rate. Every driver on the road has two hands on the wheel (not one hand on the wheel & one hand on their phone) & both eyes on the road looking for the next pothole. By default, no one gets hurt.
Praise God; we are coming down the home stretch……….
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