This is an article I wrote for my old school´s newspaper. Hope you enjoy it, and maybe you will even like to donate?
Monday, November 26, 2012
Desk Fund
This is an article I wrote for my old school´s newspaper. Hope you enjoy it, and maybe you will even like to donate?
Buenos dias from Bolivia!!
49. Field Trip to Another Church
Saturday, 11/24/12
Good morning world! It was nice to wake up in my old, queen sized mattress again! I’m getting spoiled all over again.
We ate breakfast, then got ready for church. Today, we all went to a church down the street to fellowship with others. I was looking forward to the adventure. Brayan was too until he realized all my nephews would surround him the whole time. Now he knows how I feel. He wanted to stay, but made me smile when he said, “Are you sure you want to go? Stay with me and we can do something cool!” He said that all in English. Pretty impressive. I wanted to but told him I had to help watch the little guys at the church. He decided to stay with Melissa anyways.
The church was beautiful. An open shelter with flowers, fruit, and birds all around. The congregation was small, yet genuine and the pastor reminded me of my “vovo” (grandpa) in Brazil: wrinkly, energetic, and extremely Christ-like. However, they sang at least 20 songs…by this time I had no voice and was dehydrated. And, I was deaf from the guy playing the accordion right by my ear. However, I enjoyed it all and hope we will return.
After lunch I slept for an hour. I then hung out with Steve, Emy, and Juan. I then looked after Joel’s kids as he and the big kids played volleyball for the last time since they were all leaving in the next few days. I cooked them stir fry for sandwiches and then it started to storm. Not long after, Joel barged in soaking wet. They had all turned around because of the rain. I was off the hook but decided to stay and play with his kids since three were leaving for good tomorrow.
Ciao til tomorrow.
48. More Changes
Friday, 11/23/12
Familia Feliz is always changing. The kids and volunteers come and go, new buildings are erected, and my job descriptions keep changing. Today, I am moving with my boys back into my first house. We will be a big happy family once again.
This meant that we had to leave our old room. It was dirty! I seek to find work for Juan each day to keep him busy, teach him skills, and increase in his manliness. Today, I asked him to help me clean the room with Brayan. He did not like that. We had each moved our own stuff out of the room, but Miguel’s old stuff and trash still remained. Since it wasn’t his, he was having none of it. He wouldn’t move. Therefore, I had to encourage him by letting him know that there would be no playing the rest of the morning if he didn’t start cleaning in 5 seconds. He didn’t! This was the first time he blatantly disobeyed me. I don’t think he thought I would actually go through with it. But I was serious, and now he knew it and was crying constantly.
 |
| Not too shabby for a makeshift home |
I then said he would have to take out the trash alone in 5 seconds if he didn’t move, this time he abliged right away! He had learned his lesson, but he was now angry at me. I thought, how can this kid be mad at me after all I have done for him in these past two weeks. He had a great time until now, and since he isn’t having a blast right now he is mad at me? How can he forget how much I love him so quickly? Light bulb! I realized, “This is how God must feel!” We get angry or forget his love for us so easily. Our memory is worse than my little Juan. This was another one of those God moments you can only experience as a parent. I cherish them. I then told Juan how we would play with the tire later that afternoon and he ran to me, gave me a hug, and said he was sorry. We had a talk about it later on, too.
 |
| It even has a reading chair! Thanks Erin! |
After we were all moved in, Emy made us a delicious lunch. She made breaded mushrooms, cauliflower, and veggie meat. Deep fried! I thought I was at a county fair! I was sure happy to be back in this house!! To all you women out there, food is definitely the way to my heart! Hehe.
It started pouring kittens and puppies. Tropical rainstorm. I’m surprised the rain bullets did not make holes in the ground. My nephews were stoked that we had joined them and they were all over me as I tried to sit and talk in my chair. We made pizza with olives for supper! While I was pitting these miniscule olives, Brayan decided to run away! I didn’t blame him, there aren’t any kids left his age to play with…he can never get away from little Juan. Juan and Emy thought we should go look for him, but he’s a fourteen-year old. He’ll return when he gets hungry. He won’t ever want to come back if we suffocate him. As predicted, he returned in time for supper. I asked where he had gone, he told me some school, and then I asked, “Why didn’t you stay there? The girls are not pretty enough?” He burst out laughing and then said that he liked it here better. “And the food is better,” he said. He agreed to never leave again. We’ll see about that.
We then went to the Friday circle worship, relaxed in our house, blew bubbles with baby Emily, and I hung out with Brayan. He is quite the diva and loves to pose for pictures.
 |
| Chilling with Brayan! |
**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**
47. Thanksgiving!
Thursday, 11/22/12
Happy Thanksgiving!!! My favorite holiday! Why? Food and family! Oops. None of that is available to me this year in Bolvia. My family is far, far away, and Bolivia hasn’t even heard of stuffing, ginger carrots, cranberry sauce, or potato boats! Nonetheless, God gave me a day of joy worthy of being thankful for. He always pulls through for me!
 |
| At least they were smiling before they died of a salt-induced heart attack! |
I woke up with many things planned today. I planned on enjoying today, and sharing it with all of Familia Feliz…and I did!....in spite of my busy day. I had volunteered to cook breakfast for my family as well as Juan and Emy’s family since it was there day off. They were leaving at 8, so I would have to juggle their kids and keep them busy too. I decided lentils were an American thing, so I made them lentil soup with vegetables for breakfast. However, my soup turned out to be too American because I overloaded it with salt! It should have been called salt with lentils. My kids could barely eat it so I made fried dough and gave them bananas to put into the soup to suck up the salt.
 |
| Ocoro. Just another weird, yet delicious fruit. Kind of like Sour Patch candy mixed with yogurt. Definitely not your typical Thanksgiving food item! |
I then chose the bad time to announce that I was making American food for Supper, and they grimaced! They thought I would mess it up again. I don’t blame them after my first attempt. Haha. After breakfast, I was honestly quite homesick. I love conversing with my whole family at the dinner table, watching football with them, and enjoying my grandma’s pumpkin and pecan pies. I decided my parents would love a phone call, and it was just the thing I needed. It brightened my day so much I decided to call again tonight just for fun.
 |
| We peeled a lot of potatoes today. But none bigger than this fellow! |
After chatting with my folks, I went back into cooking mode. I helped the girls make rice and veggies for lunch, but I was more focused on the main event, supper. I was going to make mashed potatoes, cooked string beans, gravy, and hot dog buns for every one! For our own special meal, Stephen and I also made Big Franks (pretty much gold for me! Chad had gifted me his last can when he left. Pretty sure I hugged the life out of him). We even made ketchup!! Yeah…we got fancy.
After boiling potatoes, preparing the string beans, and mixing the bread dough, I set aside one hour for the kids and I to sand-paper the trailer to prepare it for painting. We ate lunch first, and then we walked to the trailer. Everyone was so excited! I ended up having 15 kids with me to sand the thing. I almost felt like I was conducting the Thanksgiving parade: all the kids in front of me single file while I brought up the rear. We didn’t even need Snoopy! After an hour, it was back to the kitchen!
 |
| Everyone was working hard...except for Freddy! |
 |
| We had quite the gang...and this is only half of them. |
 |
| Even Enoch helped out! |
 |
| Then it was playtime! Look at all those monkeys! |
We baked the bread, cooked the beans, and mashed the potatoes. You know how a lot of potatoes make a little amount of mashed potatoes? Well, it happened again! We must have put in forty potatoes, some of them were huge and counted as five potatoes, and yet, when we were done, there would barely be enough to serve my family of four back in the States! Our emergency plan? Cook rice as filler.
Four hours later, our art was completed. We were happy to share our food with everyone, but now it was time to enjoy for ourselves! We pigged out! Just check out the pictures!! We even had American candy!! We read some Bible and Ellen White about the pilgrims. Then I had to hurry back and watch the kids. We even had some peering through the window salivating over our food. Sorry kids, it was American time.
 |
| I felt like a man mashing taters like this |
 |
| That gravy was delicious! |
 |
| Roasting Big Franks! Nothing gets better than that! |
 |
| Not too shabby with improvised ingredients, eh? |
 |
| Check out the homemade ketchup! It was a nice slice of Amercia. |
 |
| You can´t believe how hard it is to take to pose when there is food in front of me. Will power! |
 |
| Healthy food, Junk food, and Spiritual Food. A day worthy to be thankful for. |
 |
| Stephen reading from Ellen White´s writings. |
 |
| Haha. Definitely miss my real family! But, I couldn´t ask for better replacements! |
I had two hot dogs left, shared them with my current family, and they thoroughly enjoyed this weird sensation! It made me content to hear “Gracias (Thank you), mucho gusto (I like it a lot), muy lindo (very yummy)” from the kids when they tasted the strange food.
Juan and Emy returned at 8 p.m. and then we all chatted for a bit and then it was bedtime. I was fully content from this day. I truly do have a lot to be thankful. I am always surrounded with kids to love, and they never fail to love me back. With that, I tucked Juan into bed, let Brayan tuck himself in, and we went to sleep. However, the day wasn’t over yet!
At 12:00 a.m. I woke up loud and anxious talking. I joined a group of eight who were trying to find a lost girl. Brayan was up with me as we tried to figure out how to find her. She was eventually found, and one hour later, we were back in bed. However, this was my favorite part. Brayan randomly opened up to me and started talking about everything! I enjoy talking to Brayan because he can almost speak English fluently. Ironicly, I usually speak to him in Spanish and he speaks to me in English. Good practice that way. He started chattering about his favorite color, animals, what he wanted to be, what he wanted in a girlfriend, how much he missed his family, and how he wanted to join Chad and I when we go to Santa Cruz for vacation. We talked like this for an hour, and when the time was right, I laughingly ordered him to shut up and sleep and he gladly obliged. I slept quite contently after that.
Happy Thanksgiving!! Enjoy your football and food! Save a seat for me at your table for next year! :)
God Bless!
-Eric
-Eric
**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**
46. The Census
Wednesday, 11/20/12
Happy National Census Day in Bolivia!! Everyone was worried about their legal standing with the government. I wondered if I had to run for the hills since I didn’t have my visa yet!! No worries…this turned out to be a friendly government visit.
The census lady arrived at Familia Feliz in the morning, but she wouldn’t get to my household until the afternoon. Therefore, I helped make French Fries for breakfast, and then we all went to sand-paper the tires for the trailer. They are starting to take shape quite nicely.
 |
| Before... |
 |
| ...after |
 |
| ...Enoch during :) .... |
Today was Annie’s last day at Familia Feliz, so I hung out with her most of the day. Once she leaves, I’ll be the only college-aged, Enlgish speaking person left. I will truly miss her company and her tough, farm girl, can-do attitude.
Soon it was my time for the census. I sat down, and was relieved when I found out they were only asking questions for demographic purposes: Can you read? Do you own a computer? How many bathrooms in your house? I was done after 10 minutes, but there were still more to go and the day was almost over. We would have to have her stay the night. How many people have been hired for this job to get it done within 3 days? Probably thousands!
 |
| The little ladies man posing for a photo shoot. |
We then had Wednesday night worship. And then…surprise, Eric!...here’s another kid for you! A group of people were bringing in belongings of some kid into my room. I had no idea what was going on. One word: versatility. You cannot survive here without it…plus, it keeps things interesting. I gladly welcome the 14-year-old punk from my English classes. His name is Brayan, and he sees me as the older brother he never had. I am excited to see how this works out. So far, he is also a great older brother for Juan (I am actually writing this three days later and he goes everywhere with Brayan, and Brayan goes everywhere with me…kinda like the three amigos?)
After all the commotion, we finally got settled in and fell asleep at 10 p.m. I was so distracted with today’s events that I temporarily forgot tomorrow was Thanksgiving!!
**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**
45. Juan´s Eggciting Disappointment
Tuesday, 11/20/12
 |
| I even decorated it! And, boy was I proud! |
I woke up. Sniffed the air. Realized there was no food smell. Uh oh! Time to cook for my boy. This could be dangerous. Juan, Amy, Annie and I were going swimming in town today, but I had to get some food into Juan first.
I looked in the kitchen. First thing I saw was eggs. Omelets it is! I made a fire, then dumped onions, peppers, tomatoes, oil, potatoes, and eggs into a pan. Tah dah! Food! I hate eggs, but I was sure proud of myself, because I knew Juan loved eggs and would enjoy my master piece.
 |
| He was excited!...which must have made his disappointment greater! haha. |
After breakfast we caught a passenger bus into town. On the way, I was “bragging” how I couldn’t cook for beans but managed to make the best omelet ever this morning. I wanted proof so I asked Juan if he liked my food. His reply? “No, too much oil.” I was stunned! Ouch, who would say that to their guardian, even if their food really did taste awful?! Haha. Well, I should be used to everything these kids do to me, but this one just makes me laugh every time.
 |
| Friends, popsicles, and a pool...nice. |
We went to the French bakery and we ate more food. Yummo! Some of the pastries here are very similar to the desserts in Portugal, so it always fills me with warm fuzzies. This stuff was also loaded with oil and grease but Juan seemed to like it! Little punk! J We then swam for three hours, and then had planned to run errands for a bit. Nope! Joy came to the pool at 3 and said we had to go now! The roads were going to be closed for the census tomorrow. We loaded up and scrambled away!
My good friend, Ron, and his wife, Lauren, were coming with us for a sleep over. It was great to have them at Familia Feliz! They always welcome us like family when we go to town, and now we got to return the favor. Plus, Ron has an awesome beard! What’s not to love?!
 |
| He´s my inspiration. That will be my beardliness one day! He doesn´t even have to smile...his beard expresses his happiness for him! |
We got back home, made bread, cooked, ate, and then watched a sermon on the DVD player Ron brought with him.
**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**
44. Trailer Day
Monday, 11/19/12
Today was Trailer Day—a day Brother Juan has been looking forward to for months!
Juan is a man of ideas. He could fill a book with ideas to improve Familia Feliz. He has been wanting to restore a trailer to use for utility purposes and to improve our organic recycling program (a.k.a.-we would use the trailer to take inorganic waste away from our trash pit so the organic waste could decompose). He needed resources for the trailer and my family, knowing Juan’s pure intentions, obliged instantly. Last week we finally got the new tires and supplies to put the trailer together. The wheels and paint are a mess however…that is what we focused on today.
We first had to remove the tires from the rims. Easier said than done when the tires are rusted to the rims. We tried normal and creative approaches to succeed, but all failed. We rigged crowbars to take off the tire, but needed more weight to remove the oxidized wheels. I had a rare “light bulb” moment…use the truck. Juan loved the idea, got the pickup truck, and ran over the tires to remove them. It worked. We felt like geniuses.
 |
| Can´t wait to see how these old things look when we are done with them! |
 |
| Inventive, eh? But standing on it wasn´t enough. So... |
 |
| We added a two-ton truck to the mix! |
 |
| We were caught snoozing away! |
After supper I was exhausted. I was reading a Ben Carson book in bed when my little Juan jumped on me. He cuddled right with me and tried to read too. He’s smart, but can’t quite handle a book written by a medical doctor yet. He chatted for a while, and then I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. He didn’t know. I went through the list: mechanic, teacher, nurse, plumber, grass mower, diaper changer (these got him giggling), but when I got to pastor he abruptly sat up straighter and answered in Spanish, “Yes, to care for His sheep!” It was so matter of factly, yet reminded me of a wise, old man by how he said it. I do ponder on what he’ll be twenty years from now.
Therefore, I played him and me some soothing music and we fell asleep at 7 p.m. I then woke up 2 hours later and dragged him into his own bed. Him wanting to spend time with me like that made me one happy dude.
**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**
Sunday, November 18, 2012
43. Uncle Arthur´s Stories
Friday, 11/16/12
I woke up and helped Steven finish the cinnamon rolls. The kids loved them. Apparently, we are addicted to making bread, because we made two more batches of bread today. Ciabatta and focaccia!
While I was making bread, Moises punched a kid. Like I always try to do, I disciplined him sternly, but out of love, not anger. After he stared at the wall for a while, I said he could go, and he promptly gave me a smile and a hug. I am certain it was because he knew I care for him and that is why I punished him. But…it could also be because he was glad to go free or he is just sucking up. Regardless, it made all my punishment worth it…plus he fights less now.
After Juan and I cleaned our room and the classroom, I hung out with Annie and her girls as Steven and I finished our bread.
Then, my nephews ambushed me with huge grins, hugs, and tears. They were leaving for the summer. 9 of my 12 nephews were leaving for the year. I could barely hold back the tears as the truck brought them to their homes. I will miss them, but I am thankful God let me make a difference in their life. I got the biggest hugs from the three problems kids. That made all the time working with them well worth it! I will be thinking and praying for them! Two, of my kids, Brayan and Erick, will not return next year. I wish those little goobers the best! I hope to see the others next school year.
After Friday circle time, it was time for bed. I then read Uncle Arthur’s Bible stories to Juan like I do each night now. This is one of my favorite childhood memories: sitting on my father’s or grandfather’s lap and reading stories with them. I remember those fabulous times and wish to share them with Juan. He seems to enjoy each second of it. Anytime I can share Bible stories I take the opportunity to.
**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**
42. Colors
Thursday, 11/15/12
Today was…colorful! In more ways than one.
I woke up at 2:00 a.m. with two cockroaches on me. For breakfast, I ate the cockroaches. Haha. Just kidding. For breakfast, I took Juan to Papa Juan and Emy’s house since it was my turn again to watch my nephews. I knew most of them would leave tomorrow so I enjoyed every minute with them. I made sure to bring my hot sauce to treat them.
 |
| These guys are pros. They could give Goliath some trouble too! |
After breakfast we took out our slingshots. Annie gave me a sweet, high-tech slingshot that I tried to use. I am not quite a David with a sling. Annie on the other hand is quite talented. We aimed for a hornet’s nest at the top of the water tower.
 |
| Trying to look like I know what I´m doing |
I then tutored David for two hours. A lizard then walked into our classroom. We tried to catch it but the little guy was fast! Annie had the best luck but only caught his tail! Only his tail! The rest of him ran off. The thing kept wiggling on for minutes—pretty creepy, but quite intriguing.
I played soccer and marbles with my 13 kids. Then, we found a baby bird that fell out of its nest. We fashioned a stick to put it back in its nest. They loved that and felt like heroes.
 |
| The once white wall after they cleaned it |
I then helped them gather school supplies for their end-of-the year project. I turned around for thirty seconds, and then stared at the once white wall. There were blue hand prints all over it! I made them clean it for an hour. I was surprised at how well the paint came off. I will have to touch it up with bleach later on though.
 |
| My bread set-up...Annie seems to likeit! |
Steven then decided to surprise the kids for their last breakfast: sweet cinnamon rolls!! Oh boy! However, this would require an all-night process. I would mix the bread from 8-10 p.m. and he would wake up at 12 to make bread until 5:00 a.m. and then I would help again at 5:00 for the rest of the day.
I was mixing our doughs when the fireworks started! They were lame, until they took out the 8 huge, expensive ones. They were gorgeous! I watched the first four then realized my boy, Juan, was still sleeping! This was a man moment he couldn’t miss. I woke up the grouchy grump, literally shoved his feet in his flip flops, and dragged him out the door. He got to see the fading light of the last firework. It was all in vain! I felt bad for the little guy, but at least he got to get scared by the loud noise!
I then finished prepping the first at 11 p.m. then fell asleep content with my colorful day of brown cockroaches, red lizard tail, yellow baby bird, bright fireworks, and the now blue wall!
**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**
41. Last Week of School
Tuesday, 11/13/12
This week is the last week of school for the kids. Change at Familia Feliz is just around the corner.
Since Erin is gone, I was asked to teach the two-week long summer school (called riforciemento) for the kids who failed. Thankfully, there was only one. My nephew David was the lucky guy. I evaluated his abilities and realized he can’t add, name colors, or write letters. So that is what we worked on for today.
Today was also the last day for my secondary English classes! I was planning on giving them a final exam on Thursday, but the headmaster for the high school wanted the grades by tomorrow. Lucky students. So we resumed our plans for the day: playing soccer using only English terms. They were looking forward to class all weekend. If they used a Spanish word they were out. I had given them the words to study for their quiz of English soccer terms the class before. Well, let’s just say it was a pretty quiet soccer game.
Since Chad is gone, I then watched Joel’s kids on his day off. My son Juan enjoyed playing with the older boys since his old play-buddy has left. I made sure to bring my hot sauce for all of our soup. Joel’s kids love me even more now! Haha. I am quite the strategic suck-up, they won’t disobey me now! And they didn’t.
Never underestimate the power of hot sauce. It can improve flavor, burn eyes, take paint off buildings, be used in bombs, and even gain the favor of your children. I’ll have to write that tip down in my parenting 101 notebook! J
**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**
40. They took Miguel!!
Sunday 11/11/12
Today was extremely bittersweet. We had fun, but then part of my newly formed heart was suddenly ripped away.
I woke them up at 6:00 to tell them their surprise. We were going to a swimming pool in Rurre for the day. Juan jumped for joy! Miguel kept sleeping! Haha. He was quite excited when he realized what was going on, though.
We caught a taxi at 7:00, made it halfway, then got a flat tire. We helped change the tire and resumed our journey 40 minutes later. We ate breakfast at Narguila’s and then we arrived at the pool. Oops. It was closed until 11:00 a.m. So I took them to my favorite internet café to talk with their mama, Erin. After 45 minutes of waiting, Erin finally got online on her Skype account. I had time to say hello, was transferring the headset from my ears to Juan’s, when…the power went out all over town!! So close! Oh, well, we can talk to Erin later on.
 |
| Hope to see you next year, Miguel! |
I took them to a café, and ordered each of us lemonade to wait for the pool to open. Then, things changed unexpectedly. I had barely set the lemonade in front of excited Miguel when Melissa came running in, grabbed Miguel and said, “Miguel’s dad is here to take him home! He has to go now! His dad leaves in 30 minutes, and we had to break into your room to get some of his stuff!”
Whoa! I was told that his dad might pick him up sometime this summer, but it was supposed to be much later and we speculated it wasn’t going to happen at all!
I had time to give him a hug goodbye, but he was too disappointed to do anything. He didn’t get to go swimming! Or drink his lemonade!! While he didn’t seem happy to be with his dad who lives in a native village close to Brazil, I thought it was for the best. His 8 year-old sister has a tongue problem and can’t talk to well, so she might get that fixed in the summer. Plus, I was relieved when Melissa told me the father said they were coming back. That may or may not happen, but I’ll trust God will do as he pleases.
So…only one remained!! We were both kind of sober, but that changed when we headed off to the pool. Juan loves this beautiful pool, and he was in the water the whole four hours we were there! It may be his favorite activity second only to shower races! He jumped off my shoulders then I showed him how to frog-swim. At 4:30, we ate at Narguila’s again, and then went to Skype Erin. We had success, but Juan is not much of a talker. Erin was sure happy to talk to him, but was quite shocked to find out Miguel had left. I sure was.
 |
| Having a blast at the pool |
 |
| Pretty pirty isn´t it?! |
 |
| The resident toucan saving me a recliner |
 |
| Juan swimming like an otter |
We came back content and happy, despite having one less family member. I concluded that day by reaffirming what I know well, “Make the most of each moment with each kid, because you never know how long it will last.”
**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**
39. Cooking, Wrestling, an Airplane
Saturday, 11/10/12
Today it was Annie’s, Chad’s and my day to cook for the whole campus. Chad must have known this all along and smartly left two days ago.
However, Annie and I played it smart and delegated our burden. The best cooks, the girl’s dorm girls, did most of the cooking. We did close to nothing. All the knives were locked in Carmen’s room, and she was gone for the weekend. That was interesting. I felt like karate chopping the papaya.
We ended up making fruit salad and bread for breakfast. Rice with veggies and fries (known as Mahalito), corn cereal, and salad for lunch. More bread and cereal was for supper.
I was looking forward to my first church service with my boys. I now know why my Mom liked to pick out my clothes (and still tries too). It’s quite a blast. We were all wearing the same shade of yellow and they got a kick out of it! Wish I had a picture for you.
During church, I was enjoying the music when Juan reached down and ripped off his toenail!! Who does that!!! It was about to fall off anyways, but he was giggling due to the expression on my face. I will never let him play with my toes or a finger…that is for sure!
We then went to the river called Asunta to cool off. It was hot!! We had a mud war. I then noticed one 17 year-old guy fiercely hurling mud at two girls. They were hurting but he kept doing it thinking they were enjoying it. I decided to play hero and dramatically save the girls for the audiences enjoyment. I was expecting laughs with my “If you mess with them, you are messing with me” lecture, and I got them (probably due to my awful Spanish). I then went to tackle him, got him on the ground in the river, enjoyed victory and my bravado for a few seconds, but then it all changed. His machismo was wounded and he retaliated. He probably weighs thirty more pounds then me and has been play fighting his whole life. He pinned me down, and I looked like flailing sticks with my skinny arms and legs. He definitely won that battle. So much for being hero. It was worth the shot. J
 |
| Looks like Juan´s a little jealous, eh? |
I then gave Miguel and Juan an airplane Erin had left for them. One of those pre-made foam things. Miguel was soooo excited, then hugely disappointed! It stunk! Wouldn’t go more than three feet. We then proceeded to make our own, superior, paper airplanes.
After the Sabbath circle, it was bedtime. I then discovered Juan’s favorite activity. Timed showers. I joked and challenged him to take a shower in less than five minutes. He got all serious, then smiled, and hurried for the shower. I timed him. The result? 1 minute 33 seconds! And he smelled decent! He’s ready for the U.S. military! He was so proud he wanted to do it again! If we weren’t short on shampoo I would have let him. Younger Miguel, now excited to do the same, then took 2 minutes and 46 seconds. Not too bad for a little guy who could barely reach the faucet knob.
What did I learn? If I want to manipulate a little fella, challenge them to do something. I’ll see how long that works for!
I then put them to bed. It took them a while to sleep, though, because I told them I had a surprise for them tomorrow. Want to know what it is? You’ll just have to wait in anguish, too! J
**Keep adventurizing!...I know I will!**
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)