2011

Hello Dear Readers, I am sorry for this quite long gap where I did not find time to post a story chapter. But I have my brother’s kids over for the holidays, and real 4- and 6-year-olds are quite a chore and keep me quite busy with their ideas. Anyway, here is the next chapter to read: *** “You can finish your drawings at home”, Pauline advised the younger kids as she was sending them off, and everyone packed their schoolbags with all their stuff.  Lila thought about her afternoon. She had to solve some math worksheets that Pauline had given her to make sure she got more practice. And she needed to correct the few spelling mistakes she had in her essay by writing the words a few times to get them right the next time, and finally, the drawing she could not finish. “Do you want to do our homework together?” Mia suggested as they left school and headed the few meters over to the playful preschool building. “I don't know. Today I have to go to Alex and George because mum is at work,” Lila confessed, unsure if she was allowed to bring Mia with her. But Alex smiled. “Sure, she can come and we can all sit together on our big kitchen table.” Mia thankfully smiled back on her. “I will be there after my lunch, but I am sure my Mummy is already waiting,” Mia said cheerfully, looking forward to a great play date after their homework. Lila hugged her goodbye before her friend hurried back to her mum, Anna, who was already preparing lunch. Alex, on the other hand, had just opened the door for Lukas, who had finished his preschool class for today.  “Lila, can you please take George's hand it’s better for you while we are walking home?” She heard her friend's command when the boy came over to her. With the good feeling of not being alone, she took his hand and looked up at him as if she was a younger one who looks up at her big brother. If she would not be so afraid of being alone, she would certainly make it. But the thought seemed to be quite terrifying. No. Even on her first day she was glad that she had Lukas with her. And with George it felt even better with his height advantage, he protected and guided her and when she looked up at him, she could believe that she was just a child. So yes. It was ok for her to need help, and someone holding her hand meant friendship. And she could not get enough of it. “Alex, can I show Lila the shortcut to the playground?” George suggested as they had made it halfway to their home.  “Yes, I want to go to the playground too." Lukas immediately insisted that their lunch could be delayed a little if he could get some more time for playing in the sandbox and having fun on the swing. “Oh, please... Please, Alex “, Lila also cheered as she was excited about finding all the possible ways in her new town. George had explained everything about their path in detail as if she would be a little child heading out on her own in a few weeks. And Lila loved the thought of being led into this new place like a little kid again. “But we have to go home, mum is already waiting for us.” Alex tried to insist that going straight home was mandatory.   Lukas pouted in resignation as he was slowly accepting that playing in the sand was not on the menu.  “But Alex I really would love to”, Lila tried another time and used her best puppy eyes on her teenage friend. “Please!”  Alex sighed as if she could hardly resist the little girl's glances.  "Ok, but just to show you the way. Then we need to head home. I am sure lunch is ready." "Thanks ... " Enthusiastically, Lila wanted to start running down the path.  “Wait, we have to stay together”, George stopped her as he was still holding her hand. Hand in hand they made their way down the small walkway, passing some gardens on the way. “Hold on”, the boy suddenly said. “This is our teacher’s ... Pauline’s house”. Lila was looking into the garden and at the house that seemed to have been there forever, while it looked quite renovated and cared for. The grass was cut short with some lovely flowers sitting right in the middle of the oasis of green, and the walls seemed to have been painted recently.   "Are you sure Pauline lives here?" She suddenly responded. In her world, teachers are more like the headmaster in the story of Ronald Dahl, and were certainly not caring for a garden like this. Maybe the picture of how a teacher would be was influenced by her fear. Pauline was different. She was a teacher, but ... Lila searched for words to describe the difference, she was.... hmm.  She somehow trusted her when she was afraid or she needed her to change her diaper. and every time her confidence that she would not harm her grew, but she still did not let her guard down. And being mute was part of that shield that she used. What would it take to change the belief that all the teachers were dangerous? Would she ever be able to talk in class, just like all the other kids? “Come, we have to hurry, mum is waiting for us.” Alex tried to get the kids going again. Only a few meters from the teacher's house was the playground with its swing and a big sandpit where they could easily build a gigantic sandcastle. Lila understood why Mia was so eager on their first afternoon to bring her here. But Alex did not let her play right now, just as they had promised, she took the way that led her up to the houses where Monica and her husband were living. The yummy smell of freshly cooked food had filled the entrance, and now that she knew what was on the menu, Lila noticed how hungry she was. Monica put a big bowl of spaghetti on the table and took Lukas and Lila's plates to fill them with yummy food.  “You also want me to cut the spaghetti for you?” she asked Lila.  “No”, she quickly replied, looking forward to sucking the long noodles in with her mouth, and even if her mom always complains about her making a mess, it was the best way to eat spaghetti in her eyes.  When the plate was placed next to her, she could no longer wait to start eating. She sneaked away a long noodle and sucked it into her mouth, leaving red tomato stains all over her cheeks. The next noodle followed the first one, and this time it also left a stain on her T-shirt. “Lila!”, Monika stopped her, as she was busy knotting a tea towel as a bib on Lukas's back. Mischievously, the small girl looked over at her.  “Do you think you can manage to eat with your fork and spoon, or should I put a little towel on you so that we don't have to change all your clothes afterward?”  Eating spaghetti like a grown-up by rolling it up with a fork, she knew she could do it, her mummy had shown her how to as they were eating out in an Italian restaurant. Did she want to eat her spaghetti like this? Hmmmm no ... but she did not want to have a bib either. She had found this grown-up method rather difficult. The noodles had been sliding off her fork all the time. While she had been considering all her options, Monica had finished with her youngest son and had come over to her.  “You already have some stains on your shirt.” She recognized what Lila had done and cleaned it with the tea towel that she brought over.  And she started to softly put it over her chest and started knotting the two ends at her neck. “But I don't need a bib”, she mumbled, not even quite sure if she really meant it.  Monica stroked her hair to calm Lila.  “Don't worry about it. This way, you can just have fun with your yummy noodles and don't have to worry that your shirt gets dirty, don't you think so?” Innocently her small head just nodded. A bib like that was something babyish, for sure, but even Lukas was wearing one. And when Monica told her not to worry, she gave her permission to be carefree and childish with her spaghetti, and just not care about making a mess. Maybe that was something that her seven-year-old self was allowed to need. Just like a reward for her day at school, where she even cared about some math problems that seemed much more complicated than the stuff she had on Friday.  The appealing smell of the pasta quickly let her forget all her school thoughts. She just grabbed another noodle with her fork and started sucking. When lunch was over, Lila had even a little bit more red tomato sauce on her face than Lukas, and Monica cleaned her up, she smiled.  “So, the bib was not a bad idea, honey?”  “Hmmm, yes” she had to confess barely noticeable and showed her hands and waited for Alex's mum to clean them with the wipe. In fact, the bib was just like the stroller, too babyish to admit that she wanted it, but at the same time comfortable and actually a nice experience. “Thank you, Monica”, she mumbled as she was washed clean and on her way into a playful afternoon.  “Do you have homework to do for today?” Monica asked her children and she also included Lila with a stern glance.  “Yes, I have some homework.” she announced and let her head sink as if she dropped a stone. Slightly disappointed, she took her school bag and put it next to her place at the table. Pauline gave her some worksheets and on her essay that she brought a sheet protector she noted some exercises to improve her writing even further. She slowly unpacked her stuff, while she was a little anxious that Monica would notice that she did not bring her normal school supplies. Noah found his important place next to her to help her with her homework.  “Hi, I am back”, they heard Mia's voice as the primary school girl entered the apartment with her school bag on her back and Anna, her mum, in tow. “Hello Mia, Hello Anna”, Alex greeted the new arrivals.  “Mia told me she is going to do her homework with her friends today, and I wanted to make sure that she is not just playing”, her mum told the teenager.  “No, we are not just playing, at least not before they completed their homework”, Alex insisted as if she were Pauline herself. “And if you want me to, I can check that she completes all her tasks. I even promised Lila's mum to have an eye on her when she is doing her assignments.” Lila plushed a little as her teenage friend told the adult that she was babysitting them for their learning session in the afternoon. Anna still looked a little suspicious.  “Please, Mummy ... look, Lila has already started her homework without me”, the girl on her mummy's hand was complaining.  Anna was quite confused, she had never seen her daughter wanting to do homework. Maybe it would be a good idea to let the kids learn together.   “Ok, but you have to come over and show me what you have done before you can go and play, and if it is not done properly, you have to do it at home.” “Thank you, mum!” she said, enthusiastic but also a bit annoyed about her comment, and sat down next to Lila, who had already put her essay on the table. “Did you write that?” Anna asked as she saw her daughter's friend's handwriting “It's just what she wrote today”, Mia spoke for her friend while Lila handed Anna the paper. While the adult was reading her essay, the small teenage girl could not think about anything else. What if she did not like it, what if it was too childish, what if ... was going through her mind.  “You are quite a good writer.” Mia's mum praised her. “My daughter could certainly learn from you.”  Lila's heart warmed up, despite Anna knowing she was thirteen, she was praised for her work.  “Thanks”, she mumbled, barely loud enough for the others to hear. She was a little surprised that she was able to speak up for herself.  The word earned her a hug from Mia. She understood that even just a few words were an important step forward Lila took in gaining her ability to communicate with other grown-ups. “But now we really have to start doing our homework”, Alex said strictly and was also addressing Mia’s mum, who was still standing there and looking down on the children. Anna waved her hand as she was leaving to do some more farm work, while Mia started to unpack her school bag.  Lila took another paper and started to practice the words that she used in her essay. Slowly moving over the text and stopping at every spelling issue.  #####   As always, I want to encourage you to write a comment about that. So how did you like Lila doing her homework?

Looking forward to it 🇺🇸🇨🇭

Too much drama for Sally. Probably something more relaxing. Also, Sally is getting to be a bit too famous, so maybe avoid crowds. 

Maybe to summer camp!

Kicking and screaming 😂