 Tomorrow morning we have to get up very very early!
We - as in Ms Lollipop and me.
Because guess what:
Ms Lollipop has to be dropped off at school no later than 7.30am...
A bus will collect them and they will leave 7.45am sharp!
They will drive about an hour (or less...) to arrive at the way East end of Singapore. Singapore is not such a big island so it is really far, far away!
They go all that way to get amazingly dirty, giggle extensively, sleep way too little 2 nights in a row, bond extremely with class friends, compete in silly games, laugh to tears with each others jokes and have extremely and utterly intensly fun!
Yes, you guessed it, Ms Lollipop is going on her very first school excursion!
We've had many school trips before, but we always left in the morning and came home in the evening.
We stayed at different places before, like at grandma's and grandpa's, auntie's and uncle's, or even BFF's places.
This is the very first time however, that Ms Lollipop is going on a schooltrip for 3 days/2nights.
She is looking forward to this event, from the day she knew!
Which is exactly 6 weeks ago when she was transferred to grade4.
Somehow this incredible event has stayed in the back of our minds for all this time.
I know, I cannot believe it myself.
It must have been the cheer joy of Easter holiday...
Today however was the day to pack and to answer ALL her questions (and mine)
The packing list was clear:
4 shorts
4 T-shirts
4 pair of socks (I like the way they put an emphasis on "pair")
4 undergarment (translation: underwear)
1 track pant (translation: long trouser -needed for the 'games in the ropes')
1 pair of running shoes
1 pair of closed shoes that can become wet (for the raft-building game)
1 swim suit (for the water games)
a cap
bathtowel
handtowel
soap/shampoo
tootbrush/shampoo
1 comforter (a bear, a blanket ... Mr Monster has the honor to accompany Ms Lollipop, a self made and self stuffed animal)
1 book ("Avontuur op het eiland Zeekraai" - Adventure on the island "Seacrow" - Astrid Lindgren )
I could manage this ... piece of cake.
sunscreen
insect repellent
mosquito patches (translation- stickers you put on your clothing to chase mosquitos -mostly blue or yellow)
A bit harder already as I realised we were out of sunscreen,
out of mosquito patches and almost out of insect repellent.
An extra trip to the shops was necessary ...
1 fork
1 spoon
1 plate
1 mug
all of these in metal or plastic , and non-disposable
ok - now I panicked
I am one of those silly parents that don't like the plastic stuff.
We might have started with plastic stuff when Ms Lollipop was a baby,
and we probably continued a while in her toddler 'I want to do this myself' age.
But at a certain point in her young life, she was eating off a normal plate with a normal knife, fork and spoon.
Yes, they were too big for her little hands and mouth. But it didn't stop her from eating though.
She even drank from a glass.Yes, she has broken some.
But don't we all?
I desperately disappeared into my cupboards and came back with these suggestions:
The first one is actually a metal bowl. It is a souvenir from South Africa. I love the cheer joy it reflects, and I love the memories it has installed in that holiday, but it is not a plate nor a mug and as you can see is the (probably leaded) paint chipping off. Not really a healthy choice ...
The second one then.
The look Ms Lollipop gave me was very clear.
I guess we have grown out of pink, purple and princesses. Sigh...
The third one?
It is a left over from the initially 4 plastic Ikea plates all families seem to have in their house.
I believe they even come with matching mugs, now where have I left those ??
Ms Lollipop points out to me that the plate is so small it would only hold her portion of rice and nothing else.
Point taken, I do not want to be held responsible for 'I could not eat enough because my plate was too small' drama's.
In utter panick mode I had to search for something new!
And I found this!  It is not plastic, it is not metal, it is melamine and it comes from Denmark
and I LOVE IT!
It's called RICE.
It is fresh, it is fun and the colours are great!
I am actually quite proud now to have found this in cheer last minute mode, and Ms Lollipop gave me a big hug for this 'grown up' set.
Packing her suitcase I added an extra pair of underwear, an extra T-shirt, an extra pair of socks, some sweeties -totally forbidden to bring any toys or sweets-but hey, aren't we supposed to 'bend' the rules??
Ms Lollipop had no questions for me. They were all asked and answered in the class today.
She told me one girl had a "will there be..." list, from her mum to ask the teacher:
a fan - yes
a bed with a mattress - yes
a pillow - yes
sweets - no
toys - no
I was giggling by now
insects - no/yes (of course!)
food - yes
Ok I am laughing now
aircon - yes
you gotta be kidding me! Tears running over my cheeks.
And then I said the words I dreaded as a child, the words I promised myself I would never ever say to my children.
"In my days .... we went on camp without aircon"
"You were in Belgium, mum, you don't need aircon there."
Thank you, Ms Lollipop for this very clear vision of differences between Belgium and Singapore.
But come to think of it, in my days, I think the first time I went anywhere with the school for more than 1 day was our excursion to Paris when I was 15 years old! I was in boarding school from when I was 12, maybe that counts too.
But Ms Lollipop is only 8 years old (Ok - 9 next month) and she will be the youngest of all! My poor baby, my poor child!
"Mum!"
It is 10.30pm now, Ms Lollipop is still not sleeping ... neither am I....
I am not sure if I will sleep these next few days, neither am I sure Ms Lollipop will.
I love you sweetheart, have fun!
Your very proud mummy
Evelyn
ps Ms Lollipop won the school's Art contest! Her design will make this year's year book front cover!!
Sorry - I am bragging...
I just love that child!
We are back! We are home!
Ms Lollipop and me spent 3 weeks in Belgium.
We loved every minute of it,catching up with family and friends, eating (too much) easter chocolate eggs...
We did not love the weather!
It was cold, windy and rainy. The dry Belgian air transformed my skin into very itchy, flaky wrinkled papyrus-like skin no matter how much lotion I provided. I never really unpacked the t-shirts and the skirts, instead I searched my way through storage boxes left overs from Moscow, in search of winter clothing!
We stepped out of the airplane and Ms Lollipop sniffed the air, grinned from ear to ear and took off her jacket.
"It is so great to be home!"
When we passed the passport control I noticed a woman sitting on the floor in front of the luggage belt. Next to her was a small child, a little girl about 2-3 years old. They were both in tears and clearly upset.
I asked if she needed any help.
The woman tells me a rather incoherent story. Something had happened at immigration, causing the little girl to be upset and now the little girl did not want to walk, causing a major tantrum and wanting nothing else but sit on the ground. The woman clearly did not know what to do with this situation.
My heart went out to her. I could understand how hard it can be traveling with little children. Especially when they are between 2 and 4 years old, when they seem to be doing the opposite of what you would like them to do and are using the word "no" with a force and an intensity it makes you scared. We've all been there, right?
I suggest to her to just pick her up and go. It seemed, to me, the most logic thing to do. I think all mothers (most mothers) would just strap her in the stroller and get going. Yes, you can scream honey. But you are safe, and we are moving.
She told me it was a bad child. The little girl clinged to her. The woman pushed her away.
This felt wrong.
The way they interacted made me wonder if she was the mother, or maybe she was the helper.
There was no luggage, and no stroller. Just the two of them in front of the belt.
The world watching but not interfering.
I offered a packet of gummy bears. But the little girl was too upset to accept anything, and was just crying.
Ms Lollipop called out to me, our bags were on the belt.
I left the woman and her little girl and went in search of our luggage.
Was it 10 min later we turned around to head out?
We saw the woman running towards the exit. She had taken her shoes off and was running barefooted. The little girl was running behind her, screaming, arms stretched out, tears rolling down her cheeks. She tripped and fell to the ground. She vomits. She screams. She cries.
The woman does not look back and keeps running until she is at the other side of the glass paned windows and exit.
As in, you cannot get back in.
The traveling world ignored the whole scene. I saw businessmen, families with children, couples old and young snatch their luggage, looking at the girl and quickening their pace to get out.
Ms Lollipop and I sat down and tried to calm down the little girl. I looked for her mother. She must be in a state of terror now, at the other side of the exit. Maybe I should just pick the little girl up in my arms and go out to her mother. Would the authorities let me pass? Maybe she will calm down and hold my hand so we can walk out together? Where was she?
She wasn't there. I was searching in vain. She vanished.
Here we were, on the ground of Changi airport, the cleanest airport of the world, sitting in a pool of vomit and tears, with a screaming 2-year old girl who was not mine and without a mother in sight.
I did't know what to do, really ...
This felt very wrong.
Until I finally see her. She reappears from behind a pillar and is looking angrily in our direction. Back straight, arms crossed.
Airport staff approaches us. I explain, this is not my child, and point out the mother at the other side of the windows. They go out to talk to her, as clearly the child refuses to walk on her own. We sit with her, we stroke her back which seems to calm her down. We try to talk but get no reaction. Does she even speak English? Her eyes are locked with her mother's who ignores the airport staff. The mother refuses to come back in.
This is a battle of characters!
The airport staff decide they will carry out the little girl to reunite her with her mother. I think that is a good plan...
As soon as one of them tries to pick her up, she starts to kick and scream again. I can't help wondering. Wouldn't you if you would be picked up by some complete strangers? One of the airport staff takes hold of her arms, the other takes hold of her legs. Like a convict this little 2 year old is carried out between them, they are laughing, the girl is screaming, vomiting, kicking and biting.
The world is watching, filming and taking pictures.
The mother has disappeared again and an older couple (the grandparents ?) 'collect' the bundle of revolt. The girl vomits over grandmother's silky burgundy dress. The grandfather raises his hands and treathens to slap her.
They are shouting at her: you are a bad girl, you stupid child, you stop now, you insult us...
Everybody is looking now, and I don't know what to do anymore.
I try to tell the airport staff that this is not her mother. This is not the person I saw with the girl.
They are not sure either, they want to get this over with as soon as possible. The vomit is already cleared away, please can this child go away as well.
There comes a point when your help is not appreciated anymore, when you feel you interfere with family matters that are not your business. Maybe cultural difference play as well and your helping is not appropriate.
But still, this is a 2-year old child...
I hesitate and linger around. I don't know what to do, but if feels so wrong to leave her like this.
The mother shows up again, with 2 bigger children. Everybody is shouting and screaming.
Their body language is very clear. They do not like the little one, she is disturbing their peace.
She is a bad girl.
Finally they gather the luggage and head for the taxi-stand.
Ms Lollipop and me do the same.
We look back though, we can't help ourselves.
The little girl is still standing in the middle of the airport. All alone - again. Crying in silence now, but not walking.
The family heads for the exit, they don't hold their pace, they don't look back.
Ms Lollipop is upset, and frankly so am I.
I hope she is safe. I hope someone will tuck her in and cuddle and kiss her goodnight.
I hope someone truely loves her, and will tell her how a good girl she is.
Evelyn
Xxx
I still remember when it happened. Ms Lollipop came home from school one day, as usual. Well, I could tell something was going one, as she actually jumped off the school bus, which , I must admit, was a bit surprising. I was immediately informed: "Mummy, mummy, you know, we have a new girl on the bus!" "Can we have a playdate?" "Mummy, mummy, she is in my year, but not in my class!" "Can we please have a playdate?" "Mummy, mummy, she is from Ireland but also speaks Dutch!" "Can we have a playdate, pleeeeeeeaase mummyyyyyy???" And that is how MissyM came into our lives, and changed the word 'friendship' for my girl forever. At school, wearing their uniform, teachers mixed them up. They have the same height , alltough maybe Ms Lollipop might be 2 cm taller, as I allow her to sit in the car without a booster seat. You need to be 140 cm in Belgium to be allowed to sit in the car without a booster seat. Ms Lollipop qualifies, MissyM is 'nearly there but not yet' . They weigh about the same, according to my brother Mr2m. They love to tease him! So he picks up one of each under his arm and carries them around. So, he should know . They both laugh when one trips over shoelaces or the other one drops her fork. They scream and run when Mr2m treatens to chase them. They giggle in unison over whispered secrets, hidden under their blankets. They like spaghetti and pizza, strawberries and ice cream.
they became friends 'forever'!
'How long is forever, mummy?' 'well, forever means ... for ever and ever and ever!' 'you mean like infinity?' 'yes, sweety, like infinity' 'that is really really long!' 'yes, it is, sweetheart' 'Do you really think we will be friends forever?' 'you never know, but if you are true friends, you might be ..." 'how do I know that we are true friends?' 'well, when you still like to be together after a long time ' ... ' I think we are true friends , mummy, forever ...'
MissyM lives in Holland now, that is about 10.422km from Singapore.
Together with her mummy (who just happens to be my BFF as well...) we try to make it work, for us, and for the girls. we arrange sleepovers, drive hours to pick up or drop off (and meanwhile enjoy each others company as well..:-)) and organize ways to spend some time together.
Today , we said goodbye to MissyM after a 3day long sleepover festivity. It was such a fun to have MissyM over for a visit! My little girl soaked up the attention and loved to have her friend over, to show her around and to play endless games.
Today they had to say goodbye again, for another 10weeks before summer holiday. Saying goodbye is always difficult, but with MissyM my little girl knows it is 'until next time!'
Thank you MissyM for showing Ms Lollipop that friendship can stand the test of time and location, even for 9 year old girls! Please tell your mummy the same ...
I love you!
Evelyn
 Hi everyone,
Look what i found! Another nice view.
This view is very special to me, as it is loaded with memories.
This is a view from Riga.
About 1,5 years ago i turned 40 in Moscow. The big FOUR AND O .
I did not want to celebrate it. I told Mr Guzzi I did not want to have a party. I wanted to celebrate just the two of us, romantically, dinner, some flowers, some champagne.
He did just that. He cooked a delicious meal at home, just for the three of us. I enjoyed every minute of it.
Ms Lollipop had made a card, and drawings, and they decorated the house with balloons and flowers.
There was a small present with a riddle attached. The riddle said "Riga - Friday 2pm"
We were going on a weekend to Riga! I was so happy! Just me and Mr Guzzi having a little bit of 'just the two of us' time.
He had arranged everything! From who would take care of the dog, to who would take care of Ms Lollipop.
All taken care of, I could not believe it! All I had to do was pack...
I packed my sexiest lingerie, my shortest dresses, my highest heels, my sweetest perfume.
I was so ready to go!
We arrived at the airport and out of the blue appeared my best friend and neighbour AM.
I was very confused to see her, as she was , as far as I knew, supposed to take care of our dog.
"I am coming to Riga too" She said.
I was surprised to say the least, puzzled at the thought of spending a romantic weekend with another couple.
(somehow, I assumed AM's husband would also be joining us)
And then he just told me:
"I am not going to Riga, you two are going."
Excuse me? What do you say? What do you mean? Why are you not coming?
I want you to come! I cannot go without you? Why would I go on a romantic weekend without you?
As much as I love AM , and as much as I would have loved to go on a weekend with her, this was just not that moment.
I felt like a small child that was promised it would go to Disneyland and somehow it ended up on a local merry-go-round.
Looking back I can only imagine how AM must have felt. It was very obvious I was not very happy with the latest turn of the events. I have no idea how she did it, but she convinced me to go, as I had no intention of going anywhere without Mr Guzzi.
AM and I met in Moscow. She has 2 boys, the oldest the same age as Ms Lollipop. They were in the same class too. We alterenated on the Home-school-home routine. One would bring all 3 of them in the morning, and the other would bring them back in the evening. It made the Moscow traffic hell a bit more bearable. That is how we became friends, we shared Moscow and all its experiences, the good became better and the bad became less frightening because we could share it and we could count on each other. When we had to move houses, they had to move houses as well, and by some strange sort of faith and Moscow madness, we ended up as neighbors again. We spent our 4 years in Moscow as friends and neighbors, and I felt honored to be so close when she had her third child, finally a little girl, in Moscow. AM's little girl is the little sister Ms Lollipop always dreamed of, and her boys are the brothers she never wished for. AM, I still miss all of you!
Just before I went through passport control, Mr Guzzi made it worse. I think he really must love me...
He told me the surprise was not over, more people would join me.
I panicked.
More people? Who? where? Why?? I hate surprises. You know damn well I hate surprises! You tell me right now , who is joining me and where, or I will not enter that plane. Why are you not coming! Oh I HATE you!!
You have to realize, I really do not like surprises. So to all of you, don't ever ever ever do this to me again! :-))
After the longest flight of my life, where AM tried to make me feel better by telling me we would have to take another flight to another secret location and we wouldn't be back for at least a week, we arrived in Riga. I am sure AM tried to comfort me, (not really) and was feeling sorry for me (not really) but the fact she was laughing all the time (with me or at me , I am still not sure) and I was feeling completely confuzed, did not really help!
 To my delight we arrived in Riga to stay. When we got out of the airport , AM told me Mr Guzzi had arranged for a blue taxi to pick us up. I saw green and red taxi's, but no blue taxi...
Instead I got jumped upon by A and B.
A is my childhood friend. We met at boarding school when we were 12. We lived together in our appartement for 4 years as a student. We know probably too much about each other (haha!) , we cried and laughed together, we still do! We became drunk and sick together, and yes, we still do that too...
I am the proud godmother of her adorable middle child. A lives in Geneva and I love her and her family of 3 girls to bits!
I met B through A, and as it often happens, friends of friends become your friends too. I guess it has something to do with similar energy or vibes. When B became an expat as well, our friendship deepened. It was nice to have an allie, someone who understood what you were doing. Someone who could relate to what I was experiencing and what I was talking about.
B is the most balanced person I ever met and I love her humor and her ever positive attitude. B lives in Germany and we had dinner together tonight. It was a lovely evening, B and I enjoyed meeting up with you guys!
 We all jumped into a red taxi (the blue one was a fake one , AM needed to stall the time) and the driver must have thought we were completely lost or crazy or maybe both. I guess we were.
I was still nervous though, still angry. I felt a bit sick.
I really hate surprises.
Arriving at the hotel I got another boost of energy when 3 lovely people started to sing Happy Birthday!
There was M, the wife of MrGuzzi's best friend. The four of us have spent an awful lot of time together when we still lived in Belgium. M is my discussion buddy. We think alike, but not quite the same. We have spent hours discussing the meaning of life, the end of the world, the enrichment (or not) of children. The pro's and con's of .. well, just about anything. M is without any doubt my philosophical friend who needs the close and fequent contacts of her friends. Being an expat this was sometimes difficult to establish, so .. M, I was so glad you were there! Thank you!
ND was there too. We met at a windsurfing holiday in Tarifa.(Did I mention MrGuzzi is a windsurfer?) A friend rented a big appartement for a whole month and was looking for windsurfers to come along (and pay the rent...). One morning we got up, and at the breakfast table was ND. She is the godmother of Ms Lollipop and I am the very proud godmother of her oldest boy. She has the energy of 3, the endurance of a terrier and the joy of life of a teenager. At a party , she is always the last to go home...They will be visiting us in July and I am really looking forward!
And last but nog least: NC. I met NC in Moscow, at a coffee morning. I could not figure out who this women with an Irish accent was until she introduced herself as the mother of Ms Lollipop's new found BFF. It is nice when mums of BFF's happen to be nice mums too, but with NC it was just that little something extra that made it work even more. We share the same visions, the same humor, the same expectations. Our husbands get along. Her middle daughter is still Ms Lollipop's soul mate. They have the same humor, the same language, the same state of mind. They still do, even as they life at the other sides of the world.I was devastated when NC told me they were going to leave Moscow and go back to the Netherlands. But we promised to make it work, and it still works!
See you soon NC, Ms Lollipop is not the only one who is looking forward to your visit next week.
And that was the cast for my surprise weekend to Riga. Not a one-to-one with my Mr Guzzi, but a three day delicious bath of laughter, sillyness, giggles, food, drinks and dancing with all my best friends ever! After my first glass of champagne (and probably a second and a third one), I could finally relax as I knew I was in good hands, and I enjoyed every minute of this extraordinary trip. I still cannot believe you guys came from all over the world , to Riga, to celebrate my 40th birthday!!
An overview of the weekend is not available as we all have sworn to secrecay , but it looks something like this...
The real highlight for me was our Champagne apero at the park.
We had lovely nice warm weather. we had bought several bottles of champagne and some nibbles and we sat in the park on some benches to enjoy the sun , the champagne and the company.
This was a group of very different people. They came into my life at very different stages. They shared with me very different moments in my life, some good, some not so.
Some of them knew each other, but others did not.
The reason they were here, together, was ....me,
and I could see the transformation from individuals to "we"
We talked, and talked, laughed and giggled, and bonded. This was my present, the bonding between my sweet and dearest friends, normally scattered around the world, now all united in Riga.
I may not like surprises, but this was the best surprise I ever had. And I liked it...
Thank you MrGuzzi for organizing (and paying ...:-) ) and thank you to all you sweet Riga girls, for being there and showing me what a wonderful gorgeous group of friends I have.
big hug
Xxx
Evelyn
Hi all!
I am back!
Have a look at my 'view'. This is what I see every day from my appartement in Antwerp. It made me realize we have lived in big cities all our expat lives. Ms Lollipop is a city girl, as I am a country girl.
Our house in Casablance was a white 2-storey square house, with an inside patio where our bedroom windows could open to.
It had a garden, a hibiscus fence and we could chase our dog Osker around the house. We had nice neighbours ...
I loved this house!
of course Ms Lollipop was not in the picture when we lived in this house!
In Paris we had a one-level house, with carboard walls, low ceilings and a lot of dark small rooms.
We were not really fond of this house.
But ... it had a garden, and it is the house where we went from just 2 to a family of 3.
Ms Lollipop made her first steps in the garden of this house!
In Bucharest we had a huge house with an extraordinary architecture and an even bigger garden.
The living room was like half an oval-shaped and I remember so well how Ms Lollipop rode around this living room on her small bicycle. Our neighbours were the army though, but that's another story ... I will tell you one day.
Ms Lollipop remembers she turned 4 in this house.
In Moscow we moved twice. First house was a 3 story small house with more stairs than rooms. The second house was -again- on one level, in wood and in a forest. Neither of them had a private garden, but a 'shared' one. Moscow is the city where I learned the meaning of 'compound'. Both of them had amazing neighbours!! They moved with us from house n1 to house n2 - I miss them!!
Ms Lollipop remembers I almost set on fire house nr1 - and she got several tick bites from roaming the forest at house nr2.
In Singapore we have -and again- a house on one level, with a garden...and -finally- a swimming pool.
We were so lucky to find this house, so close to the school.
It is walking distance!! Something we could only dream about when we lived in Moscow.
Ms Lollipop enjoys the swimming pool every single day.
As I obviously tried pathetically hard to keep a green input in our lives,
I would definitely not say Ms Lollipop is a country girl.
She is a true and true city girl, born and raised.
But when she stays at the grandparents, she is transformed into some bohemian's daughter.
She vanishes into the garden and woods , and returns with twigs in her hair and dirt on her hands and face.
Her eyes twinkle and her cheeks glow, and she is very proud to show me her masterpieces.
 This is the one at grandpa and grandma's house. It is quite professionally built, with a decent roof and walls. Grandpa had to give a helping hand though, as it involved nails and screws, saws and a hammer.
Note the 'garden' in front of the house ...
sadly grandma's sheep have eaten the freshly planted flowers yesterday.
 This is the one Ms Lollipop built at my parents house. This one is completely self constructed. I watched her walking around for ages in the woods , collecting branches and leaves to build this. She was very very busy that day, and very very happy.
This one has 'a fantastic view'!
It reminds me of my childhood.
I used to build the same camps and roam around the same woods.
I know exactly how she felt when she took this picture: completely content and happy with a job well done!
I love this view!
and
I love this child!
What about you? Do you see childhood memories back in your children?
Xxx
Evelyn
It started a couple of weeks ago.
I had the impression my computer was running slow.
And it was ... I just chose to ignore the problem.
I'm very good at that.
You have to realize, I love my computer.
I depend on it. It's my whole life in there!
I really cannot live a day without it.
So the thought anything could be really wrong with my laptop, was too devastating to even think about it.
I decided not to think about it.
Nope, it's fine. Just a little slow. Maybe it needs to have a break.
See, it's better now.
Maybe not. Let's start it up again.
Ah, there you go.
Let's try again...
This weekend it was not running slow, it suddenly just stopped.
Well, it got stuck and I had this nice rainbow wheel carting in front of my eyes.
Went to the toilet, had a drink and came back.
still there...
I needed a drink
a glass of wine would be great, thank you
peeked at the screen: still there...
I panicked....
So my laptop is in the hospital now.
I will know tomorrow what is wrong with it, and wether it can be repaired.
I will also know how much it will cost me, haha!
Meanwhile my brother is so nice to lend me his laptop.
I love my little brother, he is always there to help me.
His whole 2 meters and all.
He calls me "kleine" , which is Dutch for "shorty".
It took me a while to remember all my passwords and user names.
Seriously, do we even realize how many of these "pass" words we actually have?
You need one for your mail account, facebook, the blog, your bank account, skype....
It is scary!!
But I figured them all out.
I could not let you all down though, so here I am ... I am back!
Let's hope I will survive this week...
Xxx
Evelyn
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