Dishes, Doctors, and Discipline

Breakfast at 8am. Tea time at 4pm. Songs and prayer twice a day. Play time and bath time. This is a glimpse into the daily life of the home, which has two seven year old girls now--one from the Red Light Area, and the other from a very at-risk situation without parents who can care for her. We took them to a park yesterday and played tag until the adults almost fainted from self-inflicted asthma attacks. "Bus" (Enough). Inside the house, the most over-played games are the plastic bowling set and the memory game, or "match-wala." But it's not all fun and games. We had to take them to the doctor too for some injections. Poor Moni--she was terrified; the doctors had to hold her down and she screamed and screamed. So what do you do? Buy her a lollipop and you're forgiven. Now chores: The kids are very good with cleaning up one game before starting the next. They're also required to ask to be excused from the table as well as wash their own dish and cup after eating. Moni is a perfectionist-- she would take ten minutes on this one task if we were not constantly calling out, "Jaldi karo!" (Do it fast!) She squeezes out, like, a liter of dish soap each time and then firmly scrubs the plate in numerous circles, round and round and round. Teeth-brushing time, with them standing on a little pink stool in front of the mirror, is also a longer-than-it-should be charade, never without some giggling. At times the fooling around has been too much (as it should be with sisters!), like during prayer. So the other day we had to institute the first disciplinary action: we made them each stand in their own corner facing the wall in silence for twenty minutes! The scene was so cute and funny that Adono and I had to leave the room to let out some laughter. Eventually their tears emerged, but we stood firm! Finally, they had to apologize and they could continue. In closing: I just want to give credit to the two Indian staff girls I'm crashing here with, Adono and Anu--they are running the show and doing awesome. Pray for them!