So my plan was that we would drop Ruby off at her daycare (we've been keeping Ruby on her "normal" routine these last two weeks home even though she could have been home with us -- she's had enough of a disruption to her life without taking her away from her daycare friends, too!). Then we'd go to a paint-your-own pottery place around the corner from us, which would kill a couple hours, then a nice lunch somewhere, and then pick up Ruby by early afternoon.
Well, the pottery place didn't open until Noon, so that plan went out the window. I was thinking we could just spend the morning making cookies and dinking around the yard, but then the folks at Ruby's daycare suggested Lin and I head downtown and wander the pedestrian mall. So off we went.
We had a nice time. Lin seemed to enjoy browsing in the stores and I found myself a cute 4th of July wreath for the house. We walked through the library and went to the museum. Lin enjoyed looking at the library books but didn't get much out of the museum, even though I was being a total geek oohing and aahing over the film/TV costume exhibit they have this summer (I saw the actual jacket Harrison Ford wore in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade!!).
After lunch we picked up Ruby and headed home. Lin seemed tired so I thought we would just pop in a movie and veg-out. She picked "Snow White" of all things. I tried to get her to watch Harry Potter with me, but I think it's just a no-go there. Have I mentioned that here before? I am a total Harry Potter freakazoid and I was horrified to learn, while still in China, that Lin does not care for Harry Potter but likes "Twilight" instead! Blurg!!! I thought for a minute that I would take Lin to see the new Twilight movie that opened this weekend, but since I am utterly unfamiliar with anything Twilight, I figured I should probably read the books first to see if it's appropriate for her. My inkling is that it's not.
So that was our day. We picked up Lin's new glasses (no pictures today, I'll get some up before the weekend is through -- she looks so pretty in them!). At first she wouldn't wear them for more than about 10 seconds at a time, but then she started giving them a chance and I think she likes them. She still wants contacts but I feel like she should have a better grasp of English before going down that road.
I mentioned in previous posts that Lin had been a little mad at me one day when I suggested going for a walk. Well, I got to see more of that teenager attitude from her again. She had been on the internet for about an hour and I told her it was time to get off the computer. Ruby had just gotten up from a nap and I wanted the three of us to do something together; go outside and play or something. At first Lin thought I wanted her to come do something and that she would go right back to the computer in a minute. When I told her, no, it's time to shut it down, she was clearly annoyed. Then she decided that she needed a nap. I said, no, we're going to do something fun together. When I started heading for the back door, I got an earful! I don't need to speak Chinese to know that she did NOT want to go outside, WHAT are we supposed to do outside, she was going BACK to the computer! I said, no, we're going outside. Whew! She sulked outside, plopped down in a chair, crossed her arms and proceeded to GLARE at our backyard, not looking at me. And that's how she sat for about 10 minutes until Dave got home. What made it even better was that Ruby also didn't feel like doing anything I suggested and sat there, whining the entire time.
Good times, folks. Good times.
What other people have pointed out to me is that this behavior is actually good. Huh?!? But I get it. Lin feels secure enough with me that she can be angry with me and still trust that I will not send her away. She knows she is here to stay. And so, she can be a total brat to her mother! Oh, I shouldn't say "total brat." I was surprised, that's all. I thought I'd have a little more of a grace period before I had to say "Watch your mouth, young lady!" (I didn't say that, by the way. But I thought it!)
I mentioned in previous posts that Lin had been a little mad at me one day when I suggested going for a walk. Well, I got to see more of that teenager attitude from her again. She had been on the internet for about an hour and I told her it was time to get off the computer. Ruby had just gotten up from a nap and I wanted the three of us to do something together; go outside and play or something. At first Lin thought I wanted her to come do something and that she would go right back to the computer in a minute. When I told her, no, it's time to shut it down, she was clearly annoyed. Then she decided that she needed a nap. I said, no, we're going to do something fun together. When I started heading for the back door, I got an earful! I don't need to speak Chinese to know that she did NOT want to go outside, WHAT are we supposed to do outside, she was going BACK to the computer! I said, no, we're going outside. Whew! She sulked outside, plopped down in a chair, crossed her arms and proceeded to GLARE at our backyard, not looking at me. And that's how she sat for about 10 minutes until Dave got home. What made it even better was that Ruby also didn't feel like doing anything I suggested and sat there, whining the entire time.
Good times, folks. Good times.
What other people have pointed out to me is that this behavior is actually good. Huh?!? But I get it. Lin feels secure enough with me that she can be angry with me and still trust that I will not send her away. She knows she is here to stay. And so, she can be a total brat to her mother! Oh, I shouldn't say "total brat." I was surprised, that's all. I thought I'd have a little more of a grace period before I had to say "Watch your mouth, young lady!" (I didn't say that, by the way. But I thought it!)
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