Monday

I really can’t sing … but I want my daughter to hear the songs my mum sung to me when I was little, so I do it anyway. D does fall asleep a lot quicker when I sing to her, but maybe she just pretends to sleep so she doesn’t have to listen that long … That said S learnt the songs really well and his grandma was truly impressed when he started singing along with her over Skype one evening. One particular song he actually knew better than she did … thanks to YouTube where I had looked up the words and the tune when I was a bit unsure myself.

Wednesday

Time to plan next summer’s holiday – looking forward to spending two weeks with family and friends back home. I still say “back home” though I have lived in this country for the last six years, and I feel at home here. I do miss my favourite sweets though – the bags I bring back every year only seem to last a day or two! They are available online, but at that price, I’d rather wait. Must check when hubby can take his holidays this year so I can book the tickets. Am I a bad mother for sometimes wanting to go on a traditional holiday in the sun, instead of going where the kids can improve their language? Yes, of course, I also want to meet up with family and friends, but you know what I mean. Hmmm … maybe hubby and I could drop D and S off with grandma and grandpa and fly off to the sunshine just the two of us. I like that thought … and somehow I feel it could be a win-win-win for the whole family.

Thursday

Hubby booked his holiday for August. It will be so good for S and D to spend time with their cousins and grandparents. S’s vocabulary has taken a giant leap forward every summer we’ve been back. I hope D will be saying a few more words so that grandma doesn’t have to be as nervous that she won’t be able to know what she says. It was a bit difficult last summer when she didn’t say any words grandma could understand, and I had to jump in and translate between the two of them. That was until they spent a whole day on their own when the rest of us went shopping, and grandma finally believed that S was able to understand most of what was said. I had tried to explain that it is no different from a child growing up in one language only – even if they don’t speak, you just speak to them anyway. Haven’t yet brought up the idea of jetting of to the sun with hubby…

Saturday

I do love the comics we received last week – I am surprised how wide a vocabulary is used in them, so S is learning new words in every issue we read! D doesn’t really have the patience for them yet.

Sunday

How come, when you are away from your home country you think that you will get along well with every countryman (or –woman) you come across? I was so looking forward to meeting the mum I found on Facebook last week (the one who had some books to sell). But, alas, I don’t think I have met my new “best friend”. She is lovely, well-spoken, polite, knowledgeable, organised … well yes, perfect. I couldn’t really fault her in any way. And that is the big problem – I would be forever comparing myself to her. I am so happy we met up in a café and not at our place – I can just imagine her horror seeing our home, where our kids have very much left their marks … in more sense than one. Oh well, the search for someone to ease my language-loneliness continues – but the books were fantastic and, no surprise, in a pristine condition!

New to the diary? Read part 1 and part 2 first.