snapshots

AAAAIIEIEEEE!!! That's how I say "yes" in Screamish, mummy.

Risa is now quite literate in "Scriblish", and fluent in "Screamish". These terms were totally made up by her.

Risa is having a playdate at our home, and it has, unfortunately (depending on how you look at it), deteriorated to sitting in front of the television. Network tv. I'll try to kick them outside after this post. On the bright side, the more important development is that Risa has overcome her aversion to having other children in her space at home, and is now comfortable with being the hostess of a playdate. About a year ago, Risa would've free-fallen straight out of control when another child touched any of her belongings, even if it was a piece of paper. In spite of that, she has always been perfectly fine in anyone else's home, but we could never invite anyone over. Now in kindergarten, she seems to have built up strong enough friendships to override her insecurity with her space, and is now proud to show off and share her toys. She is quite a good hostess, in fact. As one of the social workers at our adoption agency stated, Risa would need to want the playdate more than she wanted to protect her stuff. So we simply had to wait it out.

The same social worker is now mediating an 8 week course on parenting, Power To Parent, by Gordon Neufeld, a leading child psychologist based in Vancouver. I've been attending this course and have had many previous notions turned upside down. I believe we have a good relationship with Risa, but we see there is much room for changing the way we approach certain things, such as discipline. Neufeld argues that time outs and consequences are not only ineffective, but potentially detrimental. I would highly recommend this course for any parent.

Risa still absolutely loves kindergarten and her class will take part in a Spring Concert next week. Risa has been practicing the song they will sing. She also still loves karate, which she has been taking for 8 months now. She's not quite at the next belt, yellow, yet but doesn't show any sign of slowing down. And that's the wrap up for now.