On Friday night as I got Alina Jayne out of the bathtub, she mentioned that she could not see any stars that night-we have a tradition of saying the whole "Star Light, Star Bright" poem every time we see the first star in the sky. She always proceeds to tell me what her wish is "I wish for my Papa."
Well, on Friday, when she told me she could not see any stars, I told her that was okay. She informed me "No Mama, I need the stars....I need to tell them thank you for my Papa. I love my Papa, he is sooooo good, I am sooooo thankful for my Papa."
Well kiddo, we are too!
When Alina Jayne came home from China, Papa was not at all happy that she was going to be going to daycare, and he made that perfectly clear to us. But there was a problem, since Matt and I both work full-time, we had no other choice. He volunteered to watch her (he was preparing to retire after working for GM for 42 years), but we were quite sure he had no idea what he was getting himself into. Sure, he had an 11 year old Granddaughter that he and my Mom helped raise, as well as 5 additional younger Grandkids-but a 15 month old child plucked from the only country, people, food, culture & language she had ever known, was a whole different story!
Well, guess what? Alina Jayne lasted exactly 3.5 hours in daycare (over the course of 3 days) and we knew she would never make it there. Papa INSISTED he watch her "for a few months-until she got adjusted." We agreed, and when few months passed, we started looking at daycare centers again. Papa refused to allow her to go "until she was old enough to tell us if she was unhappy there." We finally caved and enrolled her in pre-school this past September-and yes, he is still disappointed! If we would have let him have his way, she'd stay with him and he'd home school her!
However, to give credit where credit is due-anyone who truly who knows us and Alina Jayne, knows that the reason she is the loving, caring, adjusted, intuitive, intelligent,(albeit at times)feisty child she is today-is BECAUSE of Papa.
....if he had not decided that this child needed someone to give his undivided attention to; someone to meet her needs when she was unsure of everything around her-Alina Jayne would not be the Alina Jayne she is today............
"Thanks Papa" seems so insignificant.
Alina Jayne & Papa- the night he drove us home from the airport after we arrived from China
We found this note from Papa on our fridge after he brought us home from the airport (the cherries are a work of art from niece Claudia)
