Parenting Moments and Miscellanea
1 December 2005
It's been another busy week here in Lijiang frought with nasty head colds and a lot of teaching, so collecting new photos for the blog fell to the wayside. On the other hand, parenting continues despite illness and work, and Bei provides a near constant stream of material that suffers only from not being regularly recorded. As a 4-year old, she is thinking hard about all kinds of things, many having to do with fashion or Barbies (to our horror), but some with more import. And just being here in China raises issues that maybe would be less pressing were she surrounded by her friends in Laramie. One night this week as I put Bei to sleep we had a particularly interesting conversation that I'll reproduce here. I'll follow with a few miscellaneous photographs.
Bei dressed and ready for school on a typically chilly Lijiang winter morning.
Bei: I'm mad Papa.
Ken: What are you mad about Bei?
B: I don't have any friends in China that speak English and that's hard for a kid.
K: I know that's hard for you Bei, and you've done really well here. What about Esther? [a little girl at Bei's kindergarten who speaks English]
B: She lives far away. That's why I need a baby. A twin.
K: But Bei, you can't have a twin. A twin has to grow in your birth mother's stomach and have the same birthday as you.
B: How do they get out of the stomach?
K: Well, little babies are kind of like bars of soap. They're really slippery so that they can come out.
B: You mean they just pop out?
K: Sort of.
B: Where do they pop out?
K: (Gulp). They come out of the "popo" [Ellen's family euphemism].
B: So do they go into the toilet??!!
K: No, the birth mother usually lies on a bed so the babies come out onto the bed.
[pause while Bei thinks this over]
B: Why couldn't my birth parents take care of me?
K: We don't know, Bei but sometimes birth parents in China can't take care of their babies.
B: I wonder if they are sad about it?
K: I think they must be sad.
B: If you and Mama were my birth parents would you not be able to take care of me?
K: Even if we were your birth parents we would take care of you.
B: When my birth parents left me at the hotel they had to be quiet about it, right?
K: Your birth parents didn't leave you at the hotel. They left you where you would be found and taken to the orphanage so that people could take care of you there. The people from the orphanage brought you to the hotel [where Bei was delivered to us in 2002].
B: But they had to not tell anyone, right?
K: Right. They probably didn't tell anyone.
B: Why?
K: Because in China they might get in trouble for that.
B: By a policeman?
K: Yes.
K: It's late, Bei. You need to try to go to sleep now.
B: Ok, Papa.
[5 minutes or so of silence as we both settle down and process information]
B: Papa?
K: Yes, Bei.
B: Can I ask you one more question?
K: OK Bei, but then we need to go to sleep.
B: Does "Blupiter" rhyme with "Jupiter"?
And so goes parenthood.
Here are a few miscellaneous photos from around town:
A calligraphy school in Old Town Lijiang.
Remember, you are innocent until proven guilty. Or is it the other way around?
A street scene near the Old Town market.
For God's sake! Had I arrived earlier, what would I have witnessed?
Cloth bags full of unidentified materials for sale in the market.
A street scene in Old Town.
It's been another busy week here in Lijiang frought with nasty head colds and a lot of teaching, so collecting new photos for the blog fell to the wayside. On the other hand, parenting continues despite illness and work, and Bei provides a near constant stream of material that suffers only from not being regularly recorded. As a 4-year old, she is thinking hard about all kinds of things, many having to do with fashion or Barbies (to our horror), but some with more import. And just being here in China raises issues that maybe would be less pressing were she surrounded by her friends in Laramie. One night this week as I put Bei to sleep we had a particularly interesting conversation that I'll reproduce here. I'll follow with a few miscellaneous photographs.
Bei dressed and ready for school on a typically chilly Lijiang winter morning.
Bei: I'm mad Papa.
Ken: What are you mad about Bei?
B: I don't have any friends in China that speak English and that's hard for a kid.
K: I know that's hard for you Bei, and you've done really well here. What about Esther? [a little girl at Bei's kindergarten who speaks English]
B: She lives far away. That's why I need a baby. A twin.
K: But Bei, you can't have a twin. A twin has to grow in your birth mother's stomach and have the same birthday as you.
B: How do they get out of the stomach?
K: Well, little babies are kind of like bars of soap. They're really slippery so that they can come out.
B: You mean they just pop out?
K: Sort of.
B: Where do they pop out?
K: (Gulp). They come out of the "popo" [Ellen's family euphemism].
B: So do they go into the toilet??!!
K: No, the birth mother usually lies on a bed so the babies come out onto the bed.
[pause while Bei thinks this over]
B: Why couldn't my birth parents take care of me?
K: We don't know, Bei but sometimes birth parents in China can't take care of their babies.
B: I wonder if they are sad about it?
K: I think they must be sad.
B: If you and Mama were my birth parents would you not be able to take care of me?
K: Even if we were your birth parents we would take care of you.
B: When my birth parents left me at the hotel they had to be quiet about it, right?
K: Your birth parents didn't leave you at the hotel. They left you where you would be found and taken to the orphanage so that people could take care of you there. The people from the orphanage brought you to the hotel [where Bei was delivered to us in 2002].
B: But they had to not tell anyone, right?
K: Right. They probably didn't tell anyone.
B: Why?
K: Because in China they might get in trouble for that.
B: By a policeman?
K: Yes.
K: It's late, Bei. You need to try to go to sleep now.
B: Ok, Papa.
[5 minutes or so of silence as we both settle down and process information]
B: Papa?
K: Yes, Bei.
B: Can I ask you one more question?
K: OK Bei, but then we need to go to sleep.
B: Does "Blupiter" rhyme with "Jupiter"?
And so goes parenthood.
Here are a few miscellaneous photos from around town:
A calligraphy school in Old Town Lijiang.
Remember, you are innocent until proven guilty. Or is it the other way around?
A street scene near the Old Town market.
For God's sake! Had I arrived earlier, what would I have witnessed?
Cloth bags full of unidentified materials for sale in the market.
A street scene in Old Town.
posted by Ken, Ellen and Bei | 2:08 PM
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