Third Culture Kids

There is a new label that is used to describe expat children who grow up without "roots", among other things, called Third Culture Kids. As I learned more about it I have wondered if my children have been out of their country long enough to actually be out of touch with say, pop culture, or even just cultural norms. I felt like we were pretty in the loop until we made the jump and entered the "time warp" back to the good ol' U.S.A a week ago. 

The change happens for me personally, the moment we get off of the plane in America. First of all, it's instant anonymity. We no longer stick out for being Western. Maybe because we have 5 kids, but not because those 5 kids are American. Secondly, and I'm just gonna be honest, I'm always shocked by how fat Americans are. You always here about our obesity problems, but it's such a stark contrast when you're not used to seeing it and you step from one country into another.

The next thing I notice is that I am suddenly literate again. It's like if your vision is blurry and you put on a pair of glasses and instantly everything comes into sharp focus. I can read every single sign and every ad and trust me, there is a noticeable difference in marketing. 

Asian marketing rarely appeals to me. Their commercials for instance, are always silly with high pitched voices and jingles, adults acting juvenile or even cartoonish themes. And don't get me started on how much they love their mascots. So it's interesting how I feel when I see ads that actually catch my eye rather than make me want to smash the little screen at the check out counters. 

Well, one of the first places I've noticed my children are out of touch is also in the marketing area. Turns out they like American marketing as well. They are suckers for it. In example, when our family walked into (seemingly) giant Winco for groceries early Saturday after we arrived, my children were completely overwhelmed by all of the food choices. Beautiful row after row of perfect looking fruits and veggies was just the beginning.
The real obvious difference came at the check out stand where there are an array of colorfully wrapped candies and goodies begging you to impulse buy them. My older three must've sounded like they'd been locked in a cellar their whole lives. They were holding up bubble tape and saying, "Hey look! This says it's gum!" or "Mom! They have M&M's! How much is nine...nine?" Or my personal favorite, when Kohen could not figure out how to push the big square button thing to make the items move down the conveyor belt so you can self bag them. He was lifting up the flap, trying to push it with his hand, and generally being conspicuous. *sigh*
We had a 'moment' when I took all 5 by myself into Walmart for the first (and hopefully last?) time. My goal was to not make any scenes big enough to land us on People of Walmart. com, but since Ander behaved things were relatively smooth. We walked through the toy isles and pretty much everything my children said must've sounded strange to anyone listening. They were extremely excited about each and every item they saw. They also asked if they could maybe have every single item for Christmas. I mean really, whose never been to Walmart before?! Truth is, I just don't think they remember much about it.

The discoveries continue to happen, today at church Ander noticed the water fountains. At our chapel in Taipei there are the big water jug dispensers instead of drinking fountains, so this was a new circus attraction for Ander. And once he had discovered it there was no moving him until he had the whole thing figured out.

So while there have been many noticeable small lapses that I've observed, overall I think it could (and may someday) be much worse. After a few weeks here the children will probably not be so astonished by their surroundings. And I mean hey, Kennedy did quietly plead for me to get her that Justin Bieber doll for Christmas. I guess she couldn't be that out of touch!

(She is sooo gonna die if she ever finds out I wrote that!)

And He Dwelt In A Tent

Remember that one time I wrote all about how Ander was so "busy" and outsmarting us all of the time and pretty much wearing. me. out. member that? 

Well things reached a fevered pitch when Nathan went out of town for two weeks - ok, technically it was 2 days short of two weeks, but as the Single Parent Survivor of said trip, I reserve the right to round up. Anyway, Ander was playing until 10pm-ish, keeping Kohen awake, then doing his morning rounds waking everyone between 4:45am and 5am. Not even Scarlett was exempt. 

I was sleeping fitfully, waking all night long expecting to find Ander had left his room, the house, or even the premises. When I finally couldn't take it anymore I engaged in some desperate brain storming. I remembered this tent thing I had seen a few months ago at a store. I remembered thinking at the time that I wished I had access to a crib tent so I could make Ander stay in a while longer. But now, in my current sleep/safety crisis, I realized that the tent which is designed to fit a cot and keep the mosquitos of off you, might just be the perfect solution.

:::Cue Hallelujah! chorus::
It's perfect. The tent saves the day and suddenly Ander is back to sleeping 8:00pm - 7:30am. And since I don't have to worry as much about his escaping, I am sleeping soundly again too. If you are inclined to judge me for literally locking my 2 year old up to sleep, be my guest. I feel no guilt. Heck, I even pull the inside zipper pulls to the outside and run the shoe lace through all four pieces before double knotting it. I knew he couldn't have anything to work with or he would make his escape.
He proved me right when a babysitter left the two inside zipper pulls on the inside. He was able to pull enough that some of the teeth on the zipper track opened a hole big enough to squeeze out of.
I'm telling ya, Ander bides his time, sitting there sucking his fingers, looking all innocent. But he's really just at work plotting my next undoing.

 Nathan and I's relationship with this kid reminds me of a line from the Rescuer's Down Under when the bad guy shouts, "My mental facilities are twice the size of yours, ya pea brain!"
It's fitting because whenever Nathan and I think we have bested our crafty toddler, he unravels our carefully laid plans in the blink of an eye. It's a pretty regular exercise in humility. But for the moment, brief as it is likely to be, the tent has given us a small respite.

Best tent feature? It folds up into a small circle and weighs nothing. It was the first thing I packed to take with us to the states this summer.

Not-So-Altered Ego

 When soccer started in November and we arrived for practice Kohen asked me to write his name on his jersey for him. I had grabbed the marker and started writing when he added a little request, could I please add a cape to the "K" on his name. Knowing his appreciation for any and all super heroes, I saw no problem with adding a super cape to his name. I felt it was pretty fitting, actually.

 A few weeks later I started noticing the new addition show up on his school papers coming home. Being his mom, of course I smiled to myself thinking how much I love that kid, but figured the little trend would pass.

 7 months later and you will still find his emblem of a caped K on his name. If you look really closely (below) you can see that the little "k" on the cape, is sporting a cape as well. Adorbs. Never mind it probably takes him 20 minutes to write his name.

Kohen's teachers caught on quickly this year to how certain things just explode his imagination. Monkey's and also Super heroes being 2 of the main ones. So they really encouraged him to imagine and develop his thoughts and ideas into his drawings and stories. 

It probably doesn't surprise you to learn then, that Kohen has recently created his own Super Hero Alter Ego. But the details must remain TOP SECRET until he is ready to reveal. This pic is a little hint though.

For now you get capes on K's.

Simple Gifts

I guess it was in early 2012 that I was really feeling like all I was doing was nursing, changing diapers, cooking, cleaning, nursing some more... in short, I felt like all I was doing was mothering. Don't get me wrong, I love it, and I'm grateful for this job even when it is exhausting. But I needed to find some outlet, some thing that could fall out side of the realm of constant mothering. It doesn't hurt to mention this was around the time Ander started his slow and steady escalation of "busy-ness". I needed to take a page out of his book and escape the premises for a bit.
My friend Carrie has been in the ICC choir for years and I have actually been to many of their performances. So when Carrie suggested I join, I was unsure if I could hack it.
Desperation may or may not have played a minor role in my decision.
In January I got up my courage and joined the Taipei International Community Choir, the first official choir I have sung in since high school.
Never have I been so grateful for what I had learned in those h.s. choirs!
There was so much music, we moved really quickly and our director Helen Wood is a very accomplished (but strict) singer/director. She has credentials for days. I was intimidated at first.

 As difficult as it was, I pretty much loved it. It felt so good to raise my voice for a joyous cause for once and not at my children. And to help ease my stress some nights Nathan would play my music on the piano for me after we put the kids down, and go over parts I needed help with (I. love. him.).

By March though we had an increase in practices and I realized a bit late that I had committed to more than I was prepared for. 4-6 hours a week of practices became difficult to manage. Especially when my kids were asked to sing a song in a children's choir at our performance, so we added their practices onto my own. 

Our final performance, Simple Gifts, was May 5. We performed at a little Catholic church and all of our proceeds go to the St. Anne's Orphanage. 

It was a great accomplishment for me, a lot of hard work, and a lot of fun.

Just a few of my favorite girls after the performance, which turned out beautifully. If you need further proof I will attach a video of one of our songs. Listen for Matina and I's couple of notes at 1 min 43 sec and 2:43.

Away From the Roll of the Sea

The kid's song is here: Rainbow Connection
(and yes, I was just grateful Aly's dress didn't make it over her head.)

Kennedy's Orph Performance

In 3rd grade at TAS each student needs to pick "Orph" or strings. Kennedy chose orph which includes some singing and dancing and it seems a lot of percussion. She really loves this class and I know the extras like music are often the first to go when budgets get tight in public schools. I am so grateful Kenna has the chance to learn some of these fun and cool things.


You can barely see Kennedy in the back but she is playing base so listen when they come in to hear her handiwork.

Easter Fun 2012

Yes, this might be an Easter post in May. Let's work with me here. This was a fun afternoon to be remembered. My mom was still visiting at this point, seems so long ago already.

 We did our Easter games and baskets on Saturday before Easter. The 5 Statham kids + one of the Chile's came up for an egg hunt. The more the merrier on those types of activities, right?

 It's nice when we live so far away from our extended family to have neighbors who will scoop up your baby and snuggle em up for a bit whenever they get the chance. Scarlett is content with Jeremiah any time, which can't be said about just anyone these days.

 Even in sports mode it's hard to get a good picture of this one. All these pics are thanks to the Stathams and their new camera. We had about 350 pics from the afternoon. Action shots add up fast!

 Aly found the golden egg with the mulah! Lucky girl.

 Next we went out in our yard for some Easter races. There were sooo many funny pictures, literally about 100. Here are just a few to give you an idea. The first race was the bunny hop, with the finish line being the trampoline.

 It's pretty hard to hop like a bunny actually...

 Poor sweet Aly had by far the best bunny form, and because of this she came in dead last 3 heats in a row. That about broke her heart. We complimented her on her fine form to try and help her see that she was truly the best at that. Hard lesson though. Grandma had to take over from dad and console her.

 As any one who has ever had the privilege to give him chase would remark (usually with some level of surprise), Ander. is. fast!

 Pretty soon we started having the older kids do a one legged bunny hop to try and handicap them a bit. They kept racing for a long time, I was exhausted just watching.

The finale was when the kids started chanting for the parents to race, then proceeded to make our rules for how to hop. The Dads had to have their hands behind their heads, the Moms had to pretend we were holding our baby bunnies, and all of us were to jump one legged.

I was so happy to see how strange we all looked in every frame. Apparently I'm not as athletically graceful as I'd imagined.
I'd like to note that this was when I was first sick, thus the pj's, and also, it's super hard to jump like a bunny! I even just ran at the end and I still didn't win.
What a fun afternoon of Easter activities.

"Busy"

"Busy" is the word people use to describe toddlers who are all kinds of crazy. It is a loaded word choice because though it is short and simple, there is much implied. Like, "WOW, that Ander is busy." really translates into, "WOW. I am SO glad he isn't mine!" 

In the last 6 weeks Ander has undergone an incredible change. He has become certifiably "busy". Everyone comments on it. Everyone is right.
He is.
I know what a normal 2 year old is like, and it's a lot of work, for sure. And I have heard horror stories of children that were unusually destructive, active, and all over the place and I'd say Ander falls somewhere not too far from them. Thankfully though, I realize it could yet be worse.

Part of the predicament seems to be that he problem solves rather quickly. He figures out how things work, like the sling shot, for example, and then we all pay the price. I'm often simultaneously impressed and loathing that he has discovered how to make something work... like, say, the car. 

He is not deterred by normal toddler limitations, he simply figures ways around them. I don't have a lot of persuasive picture proof because I rarely can/should stop to take a pic when I happen upon him in the middle of a mission of madness. 

We noticed when he was as young as 10 months old that he had figured out how to leverage his weight to his advantage. He has spent the last year and a half honing this skill, not to mention that he is crazy strong. The combination has enabled him to scale counters, dressers, fridge shelves etc. 

We have these cement lights in our yard. They are as tall as Ander is. He pried the heavy stone lid off of the top of one and proceeded to throw rocks at the exposed light bulb until it shattered. He repeated the process a few days later, then sliced open his foot on the broken glass. Completely undeterred, a day later he lifted off the 13 lb lid again and this time accidentally dropped it on his toe. Is it bad that my reaction was that maybe, just maybe, it might slow him down for a few days?! No such luck. He just scampered around on his heel with his swollen, black and blue big toe in the air.

It's not all bad all of the time. He plays a lot more with the older three now, he speaks more clearly each day and still snuggles up with me on occasion.

But then I will walk into my room and find my 3 month old laptop like this...

For the record, you can't just clip the keys back on. You have to buy the whole bottom piece which is $275. Thankfully it was somehow covered or I might have sold Ander off to the lowest bidder.

Usually you can at least say they are cute when they are sleeping, right? Ander newly transitioned into his big boy bed in Kohen's room. He now gets up at 6am with the rest of the family. It sucks. I know that's not a nice word, but believe me, it's fitting.
Fun story:
I had a bad bought of bronchitis a few weeks ago and one day after I got the babies down for naps I laid down to try and get some much needed rest before the older three came home. An hour later, my neighbor Brandie is peeking in my bedroom door saying "Erin?! Are you ok?!"

Ander had woken up, pried the toddler proof thing off of his door handle, gone downstairs, climbed in the pantry to get a snack, put the snack down at the front door where he let himself out, went over to the van where he opened the trunk (as he can't quite reach the door handles) climbed in and proceeded to change every setting, turn on and off every possible button and finally he opened the big gate to our house/yard. So he started walking down the lane and eventually Brandie heard him crying and went out to find him wandering barefoot down the lane. She knew I was really sick and panicked thinking maybe I had passed out or something so she came to make sure I was alright.

I was fine, just sleeping while Ander roamed the countryside! The really scary thing is that at both ends of our short lane there is an extremely dangerous road. We are working on ways to ensure he stays in the house, and if he gets out, to ensure he at least stays in the yard. But even then who knows, I am willing to admit this kid is giving us a run for our money.

Shifen Waterfall, PingXi

My biggest driving accomplishment happened when we went to PingXi and Shifen Waterfall. I borrowed a friends GPS but it wouldn't find our destination so I just winged it. I stopped once for directions but was totally patting myself on the back because I was on the right track. 

Once we got to PingXi (the place where the lantern festival is held) we got out and had a picnic before exploring the little town a bit. 

Lot's of sights and smells and "culture".

This sweet lady sold us these hats for about $1 U.S. each. That is a deal I can handle.

Grandma "Pixie" and Papa John with the three amigos.

I first heard about Shifen falls from Pinterest. I didn't put it together that it was so close to PingXi until I googled it. I was excited to go check it out but not holding my breath. 

                           

I was pleasantly surprised. It's rare in Asia that something exceeds my expectation.

But Shifen Falls definitely did. It was beautiful.

You can actually take a little train from PingXi up to Shifen waterfall which could be fun to do another time with different visitors (HINT, HINT- to anyone who wants to take it).

It was a stunning waterfall. I was so glad we went to see it. 

I was also glad we left Ander home with a sitter. It wasn't really an Ander friendly outing... though most aren't these days. He is a WILD man. But that is a story for another day. 

Grandpa Time

 My dad was certainly busy this trip. He spent literally hours, roughhousing with the kids out on the trampoline. They would beg him to go out and play with them and day after day, he obliged. It's a testament to his endurance and courage that he could handle 4 wild things at once. It is what the kids have talked about the most though so it was obviously their favorite activity.

 Nathan was gone most of when my dad was able to be here but we did all get to go and see Hunger Games together which was awesome (except that for some reason the ENTIRE audience broke out into laughter every time it cut to Gale watching the games from District 12. There were no words on the screen at the time as nothing was being said and other friends reported the same experience when they saw it. So strange. Anyway, I digress) but once Nathan left it was up to me to get us around which definitely stretched my abilities. We did eventually find the beautiful Calla lilly festival going on further up the mountain.

 Plenty of time loving on this little sweety pie.

And we also went to the zoo one hot day. We had a pretty good time, we got to see the Panda Bears which is always pretty neat. Aaand I even got us home without having to make an international call to have Nathan tell me where I was and where I needed to go, success!