THE COMEBACK...

THE COMEBACK...

I was just about to settle down to take a break after Tisha and Kai left. The doorbell started to ring incessantly...when I opened the door there was Kai at the door. I thought they were gone, but Tisha said he wanted to come back. I thought he wanted some more of his toys to bring home. No, he would like to say "bye Umpha" and would like to hug me again. We have done this already before they started to leave. He might had been confused and forgotten that he did say good bye to me and that we had hugged and kissed. This boy hugged and kissed like the Eastern Europeans and "more". He will hug you, kiss one cheek and then the other...the "more" is he will kiss you last on the lips. I hope that he will grow to do that and not get embarrassed doing it. One of the first things I noticed about Americans when I first arrived here (1957)..."they are a bunch of cold people!" They are not very tactile people. I remember one time, sitting next to a shipmate, and I accidentally touched his knee. Boy did he jumped! At the time I did not know what happened. It was later that I realized the faux pas I had made. Same same sex holding hands, or placing an arm on one's shoulders while walking is looked upon with disdain and considered taboo. Not in the Philippines nor most of the Oriental countries....and they are not "gays." I remember the snide remarks of my shipmates when they saw these things in the orient. There has been a big change throughout the years. I allude this change to the "flower child" and the "hippie culture" generation. The "baby boomers" followed through and I hope it will stay. There is always an emphasis for growing boys to be tough. Sports and all that are "macho things" and a must for growing boys. It still prevails, because I have seen it happening everywhere. "Boys Don't Cry!" I would love to see Kai grow to be strong but sensitive. Men cry too!

What still puzzles me is why when people hug they pat each others shoulder. I have to do a research on that one...

HIGH PITCH VOICE...

Like any day, Kai and I spent a couple of hours outside, but mostly in the backyard. With his bamboo stick, we started to hunt for his favorite preys...snails and worms. From the last rain we had, some small snails started to show up. I have a very good bait that I spread wherever they are present. I guess, they are pretty good as eradicated because we were not able to find a live one. He is however, satisfied with the dead one or just the shell. He will still place them next to my foot..."Step on it Umpha!" He will inspect the crushed shell and will announce if there is an "eeew" (his word for something slimy, icky, or just something that has been smashed). This is true when he finds Nalie's pooh in the yard. He is very careful not to step on it.

No rocks, stone and flower pots were missed being up-turned again today. He knows that you can find a lot of bugs, like roly-polies, spiders and especially worms. He has been chanting..."have to find worms," " have to find worms" over and over while I am turning the rocks. He get so excited when there is a worm. He can see even the smallest worm there is. With a high-pitch voice, he will say over and over, "There Umpha!" "Worm" "I found it!" He will pick the worm up, look at it closely and put it back on the ground. I will tell him that we have to put back the stone or flower pot because that is his house and we will come back later to visit the worm later. He is good at understanding this and so we go to another place to hunt. The only way I can persuade him to go inside is to tell him that we have to wash our hands because we are going to have some bribe "MM's." Besides, Tisha arrived and we didn't know it. Like always, he was so excited to see his Mommie.

See you Monday...