Both sides of the Kiddo coin

Watching a child grow is an amazing thing.  It takes a lot.  Patience.  Love.  And the ability to answer a million questions about any and everything.  One of these days, I should get a video of Kiddo and some of her friends.  Poley, Ratchet, Clank, Slither, Monster, Tentacle, Grandfather Simba (Cloud Version), Kion, Ono, Monk-Monk, and I’m sure I’m missing one or two in there that I am the voice cast for.  Plus, every night before bed, I need to kiss her fairy saddle and talk to all the fairies and let them know it’s time for them to ride Kiddo’s nose slide and put fairy dust on her eyes for good dreams.  


It’s a LOT of work keeping up with a five year old.  


 A year ago today, we got free from quarantine and it was our first day in Bangkok.  Seems like a lifetime ago, but it was just a year.  And I look at Kiddo from a year ago and I’m amazed at how big she’s gotten.  How much smarter.  How she’s proved resilience time and again.  How she’s adapted and changed.  


But we are in the now.  And now, she’s a few weeks away from starting school in a classroom.  She is, as she likes to prove time and again, also very very very much five.  


J hit the gym yesterday for an hour.  No problem.  Kiddo and I were just playing.  Well, in that, she got frustrated with Poley and kicked him across the room and told him that he couldn’t live in her room anymore.  So, Poley was take away, because we don’t kick and say bad words if frustrated.  We breathe and speak calm.  Well, cue the meltdown.  It was in full effect.  For about a minute.  Then, Kiddo popped up, looked at me and said, “I’m gonna be alone in my room.  No dada!” before she ran off to her room.  I called a reminder, “Don’t slam doors.”  



“FINE!  But I will in my mind.”


Literally a minute later, she came out to apologize to me and Poley.  Poley was still take away, but he explained that he was frustrated too and that he just wanted a night alone.  She told him ok and she still loved him and then hugged him and me.  First thing this morning….. Does Poley want to play yet?



So, it’s the rollercoaster of five.  The emotions are huge.  


Just like the language and use of language.  Pink milk with lunch today after the first sip… “Oh yeah.  That’s the stuff.”






Can we have pizza tonight?  

Kiddo, we had pizza on Friday today is Sunday.  

Oh.  Right.  Well, it’s delicious… In my mouth AND  stomach.


Dada, what is your list of favorite ponies on the Little Pony show I watch?

I don’t know, Kiddo.  I don’t watch it, so I don’t know the ponies.

Dada.  You don’t know them.  You should watch it with Mumma at nights instead of the boring talking shows.  It’ll be much more fun and interesting for you.  Besides, then you’ll know your favorites.


She is my biggest joy while also being the biggest bane of my existence.  HAHA


This adventure would be very different without her.  J and I would have a very different life.  But, at the end of the day, take me back to the fork in the road of this or not and I’d pick this every time.  The adventure of BKK.  The adventure of Kiddo.  The adventure of life.  


This next year is going to be strange.  Kiddo in school.  Changes to Rama 2 and the Soi.  A night market being built right across the street.  And I’m spending the next year on a project (no details at this time, but it’s a major project) that could really be interesting.  But, at the end of it, it will be the same.  Cooking and loving the ladies.  Being Dada.  Being voice to so many friends.  Being me.  


It’s a crazy life and adventure.  I don’t want a life within walking distance to the house I grew up in, I want a life in this big world we live in.  So does J.  Kiddo has been loving the adventure so far.  I find calm in chaos and normal in the unusual.  I love knowing that each day, I can have a whole new adventure and never run out of options before we decide if BKK will stay or if we will find a new place to call home together… and what adventures we will have there.


One day and adventure at a time, for all of us.  It’s ok to be nervous and scared.  It’s ok to be anxious and uncertain.  We got each other.  Always.  


Maybe we should ask Kiddo, I’m sure she would say, if she had the emotional and intellectual intelligence to put it into words, that it’s hard to raise a Mumma and Dada as well.  Takes Love, Patience, and a whole lot of asking questions to keep them in line.  


Let’s go, Kiddo…. There’s always the other side of the coin.








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