2nd Annual Usborne Book Party

Weekends have been dreamy and weekdays have been nightmares. I usually get to the end of the day angry and fed up with everyone and everything. Which is a pity, because it's when my husband gets home and when we should be most calm and together. Today it was 9.30 am though. I wasn't even able to make it to the end of the day. Poor Addie is getting yelled at a lot.

Anyway, sidenote. This weekend we hosted our second annual book party, in which an Usborne saleswoman comes and sets up a table full of books to look at and buy if you'd like. We love the books and think it's an ingenius idea... which is we we are repeating it every year. But barely anyone comes. I can't figure it out. Why do we have such a low turnout for this book party when lots of people come to our other parties and a million kajillion people came to Davy's baptism? They didn't even fit into the room.

My theories are A) Portuguese people don't like spending money on books for their kids; B) Portuguese people don't like spending money on books in English for their kids; C) Portuguese people think a party where things are sold is fishy; D) We didn't announce that there would be food and alcohol served. A combination of all the above, methinks.

Still worth it though, despite the low turnout. It was fun anyway and I realized it is worth it even if just for my sister and I, who speak to our kids in English and like having good quality books in English. And this is a good way to do it in Portugal.
I only got pictures of pre-party, which are above.

Mommy tunnel

Several blogs I read refer to this phase I'm in, when your children are all small and unable to help you with household chores or taking care of one another, as the "mommy tunnel". Apparently better times will come when they entertain each other and play together, when they help clean and cook if you teach them well, etc.

Every now and then, I see that light at the end of the tunnel. But  tunnel is exactly what it feels like. Dark and crazy, like you're going to hit the sides or other cars. Like you need to turn on lights to see. Like everything is going a little too fast.

This selfie we took at the park eating icecream makes me look like I'm a fun mom who buys icecream. But really we had no food at home for a snack. I mean zero. No bread, no yogurt, no fruit, not even any cookies! I am trying to grocery shop online once a week, but sometimes I forget... or it gets postponed... or I forget to put something on the list.

I keep reminding myself of what Auntie Leila calls "the basics": food and clean clothes for you and your family. So I try to make sure I cook once a day, do laundry and grocery shop on time, even if the floors are dirty or I forgot to bathe the children again. But it feels like a juggling act. I have to be on top of the ball, because if I slack a little bit, it all spirals out of control.

Even though these times are crazy, I am sure they are the best. My kids are soooooo cute. Addie says the funniest things, Davy makes the sweetest noises and loves cuddling and my husband is the most playful father ever. So I try to put things into perspective.

Day of the Dead altar / ofrenda

So, as the "holiday manager" in this household, I decided that we won't celebrate Halloween anymore, but we will celebrate the Day of the Dead. Halloween doesn't make any sense in Portugal... plus there's all that controversy about participating in evil, etc... but I find Day of the Dead such an interesting custom. I'm not Mexican, but I did grow up in California and I heard a lot about this in Spanish classes.

So I made a little altar or ofrenda in our prayer corner with pictures of a few of our loved ones that have passed away. And I ordered these books, which we really like and recommend, from Abebooks.com. Leeeeeeeet me talk to you about Abebooks. Have you heard of this site? I no longer order books from Amazon. Even if you order a large quantity of used books all from the same seller, they won't group the shipping costs into one. So even if you buy a lot of books at 1 cent each, you still have to pay three or four euros of shipping per book. But Abebooks, on the other hand, will group your shipping from the same seller into one. Plus you can search books just from the UK for example, which is what I do to avoid paying customs. It's great. And cheap. And this is not a sponsored post.

Anyway, I think that our modern-day society doesn't deal well with death or like talking about it. So I decided that celebrating the Day of the Dead in our house would be a great way to bring up the issue with kids, pray for our loved ones (the Church asks you to do that all of November...) and do it in a colorful, fun way.

I might have overdone it a little with the "death teaching" with my two-year-old. When we see dead birds, for example, I explain that they are dead to her. The other night we saw a boy in front of our house playing with a toy drone. The next morning she asked where he was and I said he wasn't there anymore. "Mommy, is he DEAD?" she asked me. Oops.

Trump Roundup

Do you want to hear about anything other than the election? I'm sorry, this post is not for you. Please move right along.

I had told myself I wouldn't post any more politics... but I can't help myself. I've been trying not to look at my facebook feed or watch the "news", because it makes me feel terrible. But reading what my favorite bloggers and writers have been saying makes me feel better. Here is a roundup of my favorite stuff so far.  

But before that, if you happen to have not voted for / dislike Trump, here's a meme for you:

Now onto other memes:

"The media didn't report this election, they actively campaigned it, and they are shocked that their candidate lost. Maybe if they go back to those much vaunted journalistic values, such as objectivity and integrity instead of pushing an agenda, they might be less "shocked" when things play out the way they were brewing all along." -- Marcy Bayard

Five Things Trump's Surprise Victory Should Teach The Media

Opinion: Dear anti-Trump protesters, this temper tantrum is truly embarrassing

The Electoral College Still Makes Sense Because We're Not a Democracy

What Donald Trump Wants To Do in His First 100 Days 

Why Trump Will Get My Vote

Any of the "Post-Election Edition" articles at Bigpulpit.com

And one in Portuguese: A vitória de Trump explicada às criancinhas


Video: Trump's Full Victory Speech

Video: https://www.facebook.com/bestoftrump/videos/1076130942480025/

Video: Song "Do you hear the people sing" from Les Miserable (I saw a post on FB saying this: "Throughout the election campaign here in the United States, I keep thinking of Les Miserables. Then, Hillary Clinton called Trump supporters "Deplorables" and that confirmed it for me. My mind went straight to Les Miserables the musical and I heard this song...."

Weekends

Addie got her hair cut this week. Davy smiles for the camera.

Yesterday I saw a conference given by a Spanish couple who have 18 kids, 15 living. Her name is Rosa Pich and she has a book here. One of my takeaways from the conference, other than there really is no natural explanation for all their sacrifice (just supernatural), was that you have to make time for your spouse, away from your kids. I already knew that you should put your spouse first, before your kids, but it has been more of a challenge now with a baby who doesn't sleep easily aaaand a toddler. Imagine with 15!

Last weekend I left the baby for the first time... for a mere two hours... and we had a coffee date. It was short but oh so worth it. Here's to hoping this weekend is as good as the last. Even though the house was constantly messy and we were tired, we went on the date, we ate yummy things (see picture of spanakopita + salad with feta + rasberries + wine), and we had our first ever family movie afternoon, complete with popcorn. We watched The Sound of Music. Ok, so the baby didn't cooperate much, the toddler sat still for about ten minutes... but us parents actually watched it.

Happy weekend to you!