It's the Economy stupid

This morning I was reading one of my business magazines. Marin (age 6) strolls by and asks "Daddy, what are you reading?" I told her I was reading about the economy.

"Oh, that, conomy. I know all about that." she said.

I asked "Marin, tell me what you know about the economy."

Marin "It's really boring."

Christmas morning

Marin calls to us from her bed. When we go in to see her, she just turns over and closes her eyes as if to fall back to sleep.

Colleen and I look at each other like "Wow, did she forget this is Christmas?"!

Then Marin, eyes still closed, asks "Did Santa leave us presents last night?"

US "Yes"

Marin "But he didn't come in the house, right?"

US "Right, Marin, he stayed out in the cold living room

(We call the family room over the garage the cold living room because we heat it only from Thanksgiving to Christmas and, otherwise, close it off and shut it down. Our kids are still terrified of any strangers coming into our house. From what they tell us, they had some bad experiences with intruders beating their families in Ethiopia.)

Marin "Are you sure Santa did not come in our house? He scares me."

US "Marin, we promise, Santa and all the elves stayed out in the cold living room."

Marin breaks into this wide grin, wakes up Emmy, and we all head downstairs to the cold living room to unwrap presents.

The Inquisition

We attended a large family Christmas party a few weeks ago and Santa was a surprise guest. After all the children had an opportunity sit on his lap and pose for photos, Marin and Emmy approached him.

They just stood there, staring, jaws agape. Then the questions.....................

• Where is Rudolph?
• What do you feed him?
• How does he stay warm?
• How does his nose get red?
• Does he need batteries?
• Where is Mrs. Claus?
• Why is she not here right now?
• Are you nice to her?
• Do you remember when you saved Frosty from the bad magician? I saw that on TV.
• Why are you not green like the mean Santa (the Grinch).

and on and on and on

It was hilarious. The kids were dead serious. And Santa started looking around for help like one of those felons on Cops or something. Marin and Emmy are getting ready for a career in journalism on 60 Minutes.

Singer Songwriter

Emmy is very creative with words. A few nights ago I overheard her singing this little ditty to herself in the back seat.

When the car breaks............I want to buy a vaa-aaann.
When the car breaks............I want to buy a vaa-aaann.

Do you really want a van? Yes I do!
Do you really want a van? Yes I do!

What color will it be? Is it blue? Is it green? Is it red? (and so on through all the colors she knows)

Watcha gonna do with all that van?
Watcha gonna do with all that van?

Gonna take my friends to the WalMart
Gonna take my Mom to the WalMart
Gonna take Marin to the WalMart
((and on and on naming all the family members and friends she can think of))

Buy an ice cream cone there. Yum Yum Yum.


By this time we were pulling into the garage, so she wrapped it up. Now I kinda wish I'd just kept driving in circles to see how far she could have taken this song. Emmy is just too funny.

Mesgana Dancers

Every now and then the girls will ask me to bring up You Tube and find something Ethiopia. Today we stumbled across this dance troupe of young Ethiopian girls. As we watched, Marin began narrating to me............

" I know that song. We used to do that one to get food. We sing and dance and tell the people our belly is hungry."

" That girl is saying she misses her Mommy. When she does this (moves her hands and arms a certain way) she is thinking about hugging her Mommy"

" This dance is about asking for a drink. The girls is thirsty. Very thirsty."

" These girls are playing a game like baseball. Not baseball but like baseball. The bat is not round." (I think she is saying Cricket but does not know the English word for Cricket)"

" These girls are planting seeds to grow food and then they are singing to the sky to make rain for their food."


The detail and nuance Marin went into as she continued really caught me by surprise. She was very calmly narrating the action. The fact that she spoke in a continuous stream without any pause to think about what she was saying added to her credibility. Now I wonder whether she and her friends might have done some street performing/begging to get food.

Genet Asefa, Awassa, 2-07 Kebele Ethiopia

The girls have an older sister, Genet, who they have never mentioned until this week. Now she is all they want to talk about. We cannot fill in any of the blanks for the girls because we know nothing about Genet, we did not meet her when we travelled, and we have no photos of her. So Genet is this big open canvas that the girls invent and reinvent as the days go by. Some days Genet wears a dress, other days pants, long hair, short hair, braided, not braided, etc. etc. .

The girls include Genet in their playtime now. For example, when they are playing kitchen or tea party, they make a meal for Genet or they set a place for her at the table. It is both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time.

Colleen and I make up little sing song rhymes about the girls, and now the girls sing the songs about Genet. For example:

I know a girl named Genet
She is a beautiful girl
She has a beautiful smile and
She has beautiful curls.
laaa lala laalaalaa

I think the message here to parents adopting older kids is - you never know when the next layer of the onion is going to peel back. Our girls have never mentioned Genet and we were certain they had either never known Genet or had totally forgotten her. Now, 21 months into the adoption and over two years after being relinquished to the orphanage, Genet is alive and well in their minds and imaginations.

High School Mascot

I took the girls to their first high school football game today. Our mascot is the Windham Eagle. At half time I took the girls down to the sideline to watch the cheerleaders, the band, and to get a photo with the mascot. Emmy and Marin wait until we are face to face with the Eagle to ask me......

Emmy: "Daddy, why is he looking like a penguin?"

Marin: "Daddy, what is that turkey thing right there?"

How embarrassing.