The Naughty Corner....

So in the last 12 hours I have managed to master the implementation of the "Naughty Corner". My kids that I am in charge of are the oldest ones, most older than two. They are: Lazaro (potty trained!), Rahma (potty trained!), Clinton, Bahati, Hope (potty trained!) and Dorcus (potty trained). Believe it or not, two year old in Usa River, Tanzania are not all that different from two year olds in Georgia. Last night my patience was tested. My sweet cuddly angels turned into normal, tempermental, terrible two year olds. I was bit, hit and spit on multiple times and each time they had that look in their eye like they knew exactly what they were doing. It is hard to punish a little one who hits you with a smile on their face but when you can clearly tell they have vengeance in their eyes, it is time to enforce some consequences.

Here at CoL they use the "Naughty Corner" like some of you may have seen on the show Super Nanny. When a child does something naughty (like hit me, bite me, or spit on me) you tell them to stop and give them a chance to say they are sorry ("pole"). If they don't, you tell them to go to the naughty corner (which is when they collapse and start throwing a fit, so you have to drag them), make them put their nose in the corner and you have to stand there for a few minutes so they stay. After a few minutes, you ask them if they are ready to say sorry, usually they are but if not they get to stay a bit longer. If they are you let them out of the corner they rub your head or whoever they are apologizing to and say pole. They you hug so they know you are not mad any more and life goes on. I can take a lot, but being deliberately spit on and bitten by a kid is not okay.

So now along with caring for them we are trying to make them good people, ha! I do understand their frustration and it is hard to punish them but we have to. At that age they are having a hard enough time communicating their thoughts, feelings, and anger in their own language much less trying to communicate with Kimber and me in ours. I'm sure they are hungry, uncomfortable and sick of their toys being stolen by others, but they have to learn a better way to deal with it than hitting, biting, and spitting. We will see how it goes...

There have been more cases of lice and a few of the smaller ones have scabies. Woooo! I watched on e of the nannies braid Rahma's hair yesterday and was fascinated! Kimber and I are still feeling fine, sleeping and eating well and my nails are still growing! I cannot believe we have been here almost two weeks. Time is really flying.

I started a new book, East of Eden by Steinbeck. It was left here by someone else and Kimber told me it was on the list of top 100 classics to read. It is okay so far, but when I read it I feel like I am back in Mrs. Schmitzer's AP English class in High School. I have really enjoyed being able to read what I want not what I have to since I am done with grad school. It has been quite a while since I have ready anything for pleasure only.

I am on the night sift for the next few day and Kimber on the day shift. I will be braving the market alone tomorrow so we can get some more food. I have started drinking a Coke in the afternoons and that has given me a little more energy on my longer days. We get Cokes from our little "711" but we are only allowed to get as many Cokes as empty Coke bottles we bring back. We only have two bottles so I guess we are stuck only getting two Cokes forever, which means we go almost every day. I don't quite understand the system but we aren't going to fight it. I realized yesterday that I missed the introduction of Chik-fil-a's spicy chicken sandwich. I was so sad. How is it? One of my friends had a picture of it on Facebook and it looked wonderful. The only other thing I am sad about missing is the opening of Toy Story 3, but I know I will see it as soon as I get home (don't tell me anything about it).

I "accidently" sleep without my mosquito net two nights ago and woke up with two bites. Oops, lesson learned. Brian said it was okay though, so if I get malaria I blame him. I am just sick of getting tangled up at night and I hadn't had a bite yet. Last night I feel asleep to the nannies blaring "La Bamba" out our window, I thought it was hilarious and then fell asleep to more weird dreams. I am off to nap now then back to get the kiddies ready for bed from 5pm-8pm, hopefully no more "naughty corner". Miss and Love you all!