So, Craig is in Santa Cruz since Thursday attending a conference on the above mentioned that he learnt about from fellow Latin Link members who are running it. I think he's really enjoying it, and I'm hoping to get all the details when he gets back. Meanwhile, I've been shamelessly abusing my Mom to pretty much do everything regarding Sam, while I try to work a bit more. I get comments from people at work like, "Does your child even recognise you anymore?", or "Child? Amanda has a child?" Ya...thanks for the guilt guys. Didn't you know that it's important to respect a woman's choice to either stay at home or go to work? Everyone at FT are completely joking of course, but the issue does come up in my mind a lot these days. Especially because I think I am the least loved on the totem pole right now. Craig always wins as he can toss Sam the highest in the air, which is the key quality in any popularity contest, but then my Mom comes in second because she's just around a lot more. I was getting so desperate for attention from my own child, that when he fell and bonked his head and hugged me aggressively for comfort, I internally though, "Score!!!" Outside I was calm and repeated, "It's okay, You're okay." Inside I was doing a happy dance. And yet, I know I need to take advantage of my Mom being here to get a lot of pending work done.
Actually, it sounds like my Mom is getting a lot more hands on work with Sam than she does with my nephew back in Canada, who is 7 months younger than Sam. Considering that Pip is now 10 months old and Mom's first attempt at changing Sam's diaper was surprisingly poor, I got the impression that she doesn't do a lot of Pip's diaper changing. All I have to say to my sister is this, "What are you thinking? What is the purpose of grandparents, if not to pass your children off to them while you go and take a nap? Get your act together and take advantage of the gift of a grandparent's presence. I have already trained Mom to put a diaper on correctly, so I'm sure she won't put one on backwards on your child!" For example, my Mom says to me yesterday, "Why don't you give me the baby monitor overnight and you can sleep in tomorrow?" To this I said, "Let's do it!", without a twinge of guilt. You come to Bolivia to visit, we put you to work. See, Jessica? See how it's done? It's easy, I promise. It only means my child has to smack his head off of things for me to get any love; it's not really too big of a price to pay. Right?
Actually, God's timing, as ever, is perfect, because the majority of my work recently has been helping our new volunteer Melissa get her application for a one-year visa together. She plans to be with us for eight months and needs a one-year visa to stay in the country. When we first arrived in Bolivia six and a half years ago we had to do the same thing, but apparently the process was so traumatising that my brain had repressed the experience completely from my subconscious and I am now experiencing like it is the first time all over again. The process involves first going to Immigration where they give you an overly complicated list of requirements to submit the visa. Then you go and try to meet these requirements by going to various other offices for the documentation. Then these offices give you a list of the paperwork you need to get for them, and the process goes on and on until you feel like you have to sign over your firstborn child to get a visa. It took us a week to get all the required documentation together for Melissa's Interpol background check, which we thankfully submitted on Tuesday, and while we're waiting over the next two weeks for that to come back, we can slowly work on the other items on the Immigration checklist. It is frustrating, expensive and time consuming, but it is the right way to go about staying in the country. All I can think about is how blessed I am to have my Mom here to watch Sam while I drive around the city from office to office like a headless chicken. Doing all this with a 17 month-old would not be fun. But then, this isn't fun anyways. I can't wait for her to get her visa so we can start the process all over again with her Identity Card.
We also had a very productive meeting this past week with all the youth leaders as we planned for our yearly camp. I love camp. I love organising it, running it and experiencing it. So as we sat down to plan the meeting that I was chairing (because camp is my thing), my first thought was that I should make sure that no one else wants to direct this year, as a courtesy, because I am nice like that. No one ever offers, which is how I got landed with it three years ago in the first place, a job which I love. However, this year someone says, "I'd like to do it," and internally I shouted, "Nooooooooo!", and continued to throw a two year-old hissy fit in my mind. I was a rock on the outside though. And as the meeting progressed I grudgingly admitted that it was a good thing, as I have no clue how I would direct a camp and Craig would lead music, etc, while someone had to watch Sam. This is just another way in which our lives have changed and we have to embrace that. We both still very much want to be involved in camp, so please pray as we figure out how to do this while being aware of Sam's needs at the same time.
Last night Melissa came over to play a board game with my Mom and I, so we had nice social evening. We decided to play Settlers, and therefore I had to teach both my Mom and Melissa how to play. I had every expectation that I would win, because I was playing against newbies, but I underestimated my Mom again. I did win, but it was close and I was panicking a bit near the end that she would actually beat me. I warned Melissa during our visa-requirement-hunting travels yesterday that my Mom will play the 'I'm just an old, Asian housewife, who doesn't know what she's doing' card, but DO NOT FALL FOR IT. I can't believe I underestimated my Mom for even 10 minutes. At the beginning of the game I explained everything to everyone and Mom listened with laser sharp focus (should have been my first clue), and then as we start she says, "You're going to have to help me as this is my first time." (Okay, that one was blatant manipulation and wasn't subtle enough...you're losing your edge, Mom, you're losing your edge). But as the game went on I forgot that it was all an act and let my guard down...until she stole my Longest Road card from me and shouted, "I beat you!" with that glint in her eye. Ya, there's the Mom we all know and love. Well, Mom that's not the end of the game; and so I actually had to pull up my socks and put in some effort, but victory was oh so sweet when I won by stealing the Longest Road card back from her. Now, who beat who? Okay, so Melissa might have been caught up in some Kearon baggage, but she was gracious about it.
Prayer:
- Craig's travels as he returns to Trinidad tomorrow.
- For Melissa's visa application.
- For camp preparations.
- For some difficult staff issues in the Foundation, again.
- For a balance between working and spending time with Sam, even though my Mom is here.
- Sam's passport arrived and I picked it up yesterday!
- A good camp preparation session on Tuesday night.
- For the rest that I am getting while having my Mom here.
¡Que Dios les bendiga!
Craig, Amanda and Sam
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