The Expanding Family

Today, I had the most delicious lunch I have had in recent times. After eating what seemed like a little mountain on my plate (with zero guilt) and cancelling a trip out to the mall, I settled down to enjoy some TV and blog. It was my silver lining for the day (even better than the joys of adoption...more on that later).

In life you give and get. Here's the thing with families - the giving and the getting all happens in up-sized proportions.

The past few days have been spent filling in partly for the Lady of the House. The time I usually spend on my hobbies and catching up with friends have been sacrificed to contribute to the daily operations of the House. I think we are doing pretty okay (even without the dummy's guide), seeing that the house is not falling apart yet. We have crazy moments, happy moments, homicidal moments and even funny moments but that's all part and parcel of living with the family, right? While it has come to my attention that my beloved sis is quite the talented multi-tasker who thinks and does a million things, I can now begin to understand her binge spending on clothes/shoes and her joy of going out with her girls. Got to admit, Motherhood is a very stressful job - with little compensation, little appreciation, little or no assistance and if not careful, even long term health issues. No thanks, I still prefer my current job.

[Re-enacted and slightly exaggerated scene]

Grandma: JD, here, I made cheese toast for you.
JD: (makes a face) I DON'T WANT CHEESE TOAST. I WANT FRENCH TOAST.
Grandma: We don't have French toast. I'll make French toast for you on another day. Would you like to eat something else? Some oats, cereal, a sausage or a bun??
JD: (tries to fake crying) NOOOOOOOOOOOO. I WANT FRENCH TOAST.
Grandma: Will you sit and have a bun?
JD: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Grandma: Then what else would you like to have?

(He eventually settles for a bun. *Aunt Shu quietly slips into her room and bangs her head on the wall*)


[A hypothetical dialogue that goes through Shu's mind as she witnesses the previous scene]

Aunt Shu: JD, here, I made cheese toast for you.
JD: (makes a face) I DON'T WANT CHEESE TOAST. I WANT FRENCH TOAST.
Aunt Shu: We don't have French toast, you have to eat cheese toast today. I'll make French toast for you on another day.
JD: (tries to fake crying) NOOOOOOOOOOOO. I WANT FRENCH TOAST.
Aunt Shu: No, you can't have French toast today.
JD: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Aunt Shu: Okay then. Go sit on the couch and starve. Let me know when you feel like eating your cheese toast.

(According to Shu's text book of Bringing up Little Humans, he should settle for the cheese toast eventually)


We've been talking about this for awhile. Getting Toto a friend. I decided today is the day for the mission. After a round of grocery shopping, I dropped by the pets store. It went just like any other adoption process; the parents-to-be were shown all the kids on display, and they had to make the difficult choice of picking one (over many other hopefuls) to welcome into their loving and caring home. There was a tank with several turtles, big and small. The big ones seemed unhappy and stressed with overcrowding. Sadly, we can't have a big one and we can't have more than one; even Toto's friend was brought in with no prior approval from the Head of the house! The shopkeeper was helpful with information and I picked a small one that I thought was Toto's size. He was very rough with handling the poor thing, and he twirled the fellow around in a polythene bag as he tied a knot. Ouch. The adoption cost 15 bucks, and the friendly shopkeeper threw in three stones for free. I hate to think the little guy's life was worth only 15 bucks, instead, I like to think that I bought him (or her) his freedom from the evil pet store! After getting some green vegetable pellets for Toto, who is fussy with his greens, we drove home, with the new guy sitting on the front passenger seat!

Three brothers - all wearing green

Everyone was happy to welcome the new addition, I think. Toto and the new guy have not killed each other yet. They'll bond over time. The personalities are quite different. Toto is shy, lazy and prefers to stay in the water. The new guy is full of vigor, changing between the water and land (the stone), swimming fast, climbing on and drowning Toto and probably eating most of Toto's share of food. Hopefully, Toto will watch and learn some new skills from his 'brother' and also learn to stand up and fight for his share of things in the bowl.

We need a name for the new guy (who BTW, will be a surprise for my sister when she returns). I was thinking 'Manny' after a character I like in Modern Family. But I think I'll let JD do the honours of naming his new brother. After all, my parents gave my sister the honours of giving me my middle name.