another early entry from Tim

It is Saturday morning and I haven’t had a chance to catch up. Things are very hectic trying to keep their minds occupied, especially the little one. The park is a very good thing, and coloring is also very good. Videos are working to help fill a little gap and I recommend that you mix Polish and American language videos. Don’t be afraid of videos, they are a good recreation and you don’t want to play too hard too much or they will be over tired and bedtime will be a real hassle. Trust me on this one. We had a great day at the Pladzaba (playground) and I had a blast with the kids, but it was a grumpy night and that was really hard on me.

They children are starting to relax and this is a mixed blessing, they are good with their rules, but less worried about impressions, they pick on each other a lot more when they are tired now. You can see how close they are when they snuggle at night, laugh and play, and they are chatty as can be. This is only a problem at bedtime. We have tried moving them around, but we haven’t found a working situation yet. Emilla likes to sleep in the little room with her momma, so when we tried to put Michal in there by himself to curtail his talking they were both upset. The closest I have gotten so far is putting up with Michal’s temper tantrum when I move him out of Maciej’s bed and then laying down between the two when we let him get back in for about a half hour.

Did I mention they are also waking up earlier??? That is too bad. There are plenty of good simple activities like walking to the park, etc. but it is hard to balance their energy levels between too tired and too much without being able to talk to them. I don’t really think that our guides understand this because the children know who they are (authority figure of some kind) and behave at the top of their game with them. No tantrums when Lech is around. He has a great style with the kids and I try to observe, however, it just doesn’t cut it only knowing a few words of Polish. Try to keep a one page list in your pocket for quick reference.

I try to ask them to tell me what things are in Polish to as this can be a good activity.