A 25 Year Old in a 4 Year Old Body

With just days to go now before we're home, I wanted to bring Mena to a couple of places in Kiev before we leave. We'll definitely be back- hopefully sooner rather than later, but still I wanted a few pictures from this trip in particular.

Yesterday we went to Lavra. I really wanted to bring her to see the beautiful gold domed churches & to walk the grounds and hear the music. I wasn't so sure how she would do in the caves of the dead saints, so that wasn't going to be a sure thing. We had to take the metro, then a bus plus walk a fair distance, but she did great! She loved the crazily steep escalators and the bus was a hoot. When we arrived I explained that this was a special place and that she would have to speak very softly. Again, I needn't have worried- she was so perfectly good, we both got such adoring looks from the nuns & monks. The church itself was closed, so we just could go into the small adjoining chamber but they still had a couple of places for the thin beeswax candles and then beautiful golden pictures of saints and vases full of fresh flowers gently wilting in the soft light. She did so well that I thought she'd be fine in the caves, so down we went. She wasn't afraid of the dark at all and was completely silent. She was especially interested when I held my candle up to illuminate the ancient paintings of each 10th century saint over their glass coffin so she could see who was inside. Spiritually and artistically curious- this is totally my kid all the way.

Later that night I was craving sushi in the worst way. We've been eating at home all week on pretty "simple & rustic" food, as my dear husband would call it, so I decided it was time for a single treat. Kiev is littered with sushi restaurants, I guess with all the skinny supermodel types around, they need to eat something- so what could be better than 6 of them eying up a single piece of sashimi with their shared glass of water, right?

So we walked down to a place I've been looking at for days with my mouth watering, and we went there. As we entered the small glass vestibule before opening the door to the hostess area, I bent down to eye level with Mena & told her this was a restaurant, and that she'd have to use a quiet voice inside & that we were about to have a tasty supper. I could see the faces of a couple of waitresses inside no doubt going, "Oh no- what kind of idiot brings their kid to a sushi restaurant to run amok while people are trying to eat? Whatever. I just knew Mena would be great. The only thing I wondered about was if she would like the food.

We were seated at a booth at a window overlooking the busy street outside. It was dark so we watched the people coming home from work. I ordered a sampler of different types of sushi, and a skewer of teriyaki chicken for Mena just in case. Out of nowhere, Mena turned into a 25 year old on a dinner date. As we shared a bottle of sparkling water and waited for the food, I saw that under the table she had crossed her legs like an adult- honestly I don't know where on earth she got the idea to do this- there was no one around us that she could possibly see to mimic, and I wasn't sitting like that either! And then as we were talking, she was gesticulating with her hands like a movie star being interviewed. She is so funny!

She tried everything & loved most of it, save handing me back some of the chewier bits of seaweed wrap from the maki she was eating. I'm so happy that she is an adventurous eater- she is going to fit in just fine with our lifestyle and love of eating a variety of different types of food. I know God will probably pay me back for saying so one day, but I don't know what I would do with a picky eater. I can't help it, but I almost see it as a sort of character defect. Sorry everyone out there who has a kid who will only eat cheerios or food that is the colour red. I know our next kid will be like this just to serve me right.

In fact, I'd say Mena is almost too adventurous. I really have yo watch her like a hawk sometimes because she has some weird holdover behavior from the orphanage around food. Like, I've nearly not caught her in time from picking up bread off the street that pigeons are eating. Yikes. It's not that food was rare on the orphanage, it's more a case that with a dozen 4 year olds, you can't monitor what everybody is putting in their mouths 24/7. So if something falls on the floor & nobody is there to say no, you'll probably eat it. Or one of your friends will.

Also cooking in the kitchen together is a new thing for her too. In the orphanage, food was prepared in a large kitchen that was off-limits to the kids. So unlike a baby who grows up watching you prepare meals in their jolly jumper in the kitchen doorway, or a toddler who sees you make toast & eat it at the counter, none of these kids have ever had that family style experience of seeing what goes on in a kitchen. When food falls on the floor it gets thrown out- not eaten. Food that is in the fridge is clean, but food in the garbage is dirty. If nobody teaches you this, how would you know? So yes, I have caught Little Miss trying to pick individual kernels of corn out of the bin, and it was a disconcerting experience the first time. Now she has begun to understand though, so we're getting there. It's really funny how much stuff you take for granted when you raise a baby from infancy, compared to a child who not only has to learn a new language from scratch, a new home to live in, new people to live with, and then all the new rules about *how* to live in a family environment, and what is expected & acceptable. It's all trial by fire. And she is doing so well- how hard this must be for her and also how exhausting for her little brain & spirit to cope with, as well as all the normal kid things that all children have to deal with as small ever-learning people. I don't think I could do it if somebody plunked me down in the middle of a brand new life.