Who knew that today and tomorrow are teacher in-service days at school, so Katherine is home, and the kids are happily playing on the main floor (while I stay warm upstairs).
I've been steadily reading _Culture Shock: Philippines_ and it's making me nervous about the whole hired help aspect of living overseas. I'm looking forward to having the help, but all the training involved is nerve-racking. I know I'm almost 30, but I still feel like I'm in no position to be giving anyone (but the kids) orders. With a part-time maid and a full-time driver though, I guess it'll just have to be done.
Manila really is a cosmopolitan city. With 10 million people and the influences of China, Japan, and mostly the United States, there's a McDs on every corner, just like home. You can find anything there and while I'm not brand specific in most things, there are some that I've become accustomed to, like Pampers. It's the only diaper that doesn't leak on Jonathon and the least likely to cause rashes. He is so sensitive that it's not worth taking the risk on the unknown with disposables, so I'm seriously considering switching to cloth. Seems really late, doesn't it, especially since we aren't having any more kids. But it also seems to make the most sense. After all, there will be someone else to do the laundry.
This summer proves to be interesting. Manila has summer camp offerings for ages 3 and up so I'm hoping to put the 3 older kids in camp this year. Wouldn't that be great? The school also has Brownies/Girl Scouts so Katherine can continue with that, and hopefully (haven't heard for sure yet) Rebecca will be able to start Daisies this fall when she starts Kindergarten.
So, we're flying to Honolulu on the 24th of March, via Chicago. And my mom is coming with us. She offered to come all the way to Manila, but that's a 2 full day flight and she'd have to do the return flight on her own which is no fun. So, she's coming to Hawaii and will no doubt be a huge help on the Chicago-Honolulu leg. Once we're in Hawaii, we have 3 nights and have reserved 2 adjoining rooms at the Hilton which is right near the water (what isn't, right?) but also has lots of kid targeted activities including a mini penguin zoo right in the hotel. Ian's consultations are the mornings of the 2 days we're there so it seems this will be a fabulous break for everyone. The rest of the flight takes us through a stop in Guam, somewhere I've always wanted to go. Does anyone really believe all those snake stories?
So. we'll arrive in Manila the evening of the 28th, Katherine will have testing for school at 8 a.m. on Monday, the 31st, our air shipment should arrive sometime in that week or the next.
That brings me to my actual question, what do I do with an 18 month old for 18 hours on the plane?
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