Father's Day

7:07 PM -- Father's Day. Father, here.

It's an early evening -- the kids are already in bed. We met with all the other Americans at a "childrens' restaurant" nearby at 10:30 this morning. Nice place. Essentially just a regular cafe-style restaurant with a special kids' room off the back, and a little seating area sort of guarding the door to it. Very strategic. Only problem was that we had trouble ordering until Inna showed up (I've been spelling that "Ena" -- sorry). Inna is the interpreter assigned to both the other American families at this point. She's an angel -- putting up with three families trying to order for themselves and kids, including dietary restrictions and last-minute order changes. She also is a constant companion to Nastya (Chris and Suzie's new 10-year-old daughter). This is great for Nastya, who craves someone she can talk to, and Chris, who is now playing "Mr. Mom" with Suzie at home, and shows visible signs of relief when Inna is around. Oh -- we did draw first blood with Bacha today. We learned that she might be prone to nosebleeds. She came down with one today for no apparent reason, and no pain. Plus, when we treated it in all the standard ways, she accepted treatment as if it were normal. This included having her walk around with a rolled-up piece of napkin stuck up her nostril for a while.

Ah, yes. Father's Day. Rocky night sleeping last night for Linda, who's still struggling with a cough, and for Bacha, who seems to be having a lot of bad dreams. Perhaps she's having what I've heard termed "night terrors." Anyway, she goes back to sleep, but it's often a fitful sleep, and we are on the alert. Tucker slept fine, and I would have if it hadn't been for being on guard duty. I also ended up in the bedroom with Tucker after putting Bacha on the sofa in the living room (Linda was on the floor), but slept east-west across the bed instead of north-south, which wasn't a problem except that all my dreams were sideways. ?

But morning was very sweet. I was awakened with both my kids climbing on top of me. This rare indeed for Bacha, and even more rare to see the two of them "sharing" me in this way. Blissful, it was.

The restaurant was fun, and included a long spell of Tucker, Mia, and Lilly (she's 2) all gettin' down to some Russian hip-hop. Damn -- I knew I should have brought the video camera!. During breakfast there, we were invited to watch "Jungle Story" at a local cinema, at 3 PM. So for Linda and me, it was decision time, since this would mean no naps. Tucker, we knew, could go without a nap, though he would likely get temperamental. Bacha was virgin territory to us in this regard. So we went to the Tsum store to kill time (shop). Most of the time, I hung out outside with Chris and all the other Kazakh men (it seemed), and one child (tag-teaming for either Tucker or Bacha). Ice cream helped calm the wild beasts. Inna is apparently a wonderful shopper -- which meant Chris and I had some quality time together.

The movie was lots of fun. All in Russian, of course, so I could exactly tell what was going on all the time. Even the songs were translated, which I was thankful for. A true international production. Tucker is very sensitive to "scary parts" in movies, and hid in my shoulders almost any time the big Tiger (was his name "Sultan"?) came on. It's very cute. He's particularly sensitive, it seems, to scary soundtracks, and they had the soundtrack turned up really loud. This seems to be a trend, as they did the same at the childrens' play (Alladin) that we saw a while ago.

After the play, we went home, and Linda tried to occupy the kids with "Shrek" on DVD while I ran to the green market to buy dinner. I'm getting pretty good at finding my favorite spots now, so it didn't take long to buy all the fixins for what I'll call "Salad Bachabye" -- my attempted replica of the salad that Bacha devoured at the Shashlyk place the other night. I did a pretty good job of replicating it, I think, but the stars were not aligned correctly and Bacha didn't eat much. Really, she almost fell asleep at the table.

So Linda put her to bed, then came and got Tucker. Shortly thereafter she staggered out and passed out on the couch in front of me.

I'd like to wish my own Happy Father's Day to all the papas out there. As a tribute to all the work that goes into being a good dad, I'd like to offer this personal list of personal fatherly goals, in the form of advice I say to myself in the mirror. A couple are particular to my situation.

- Learn to speak Russian well, and German fluently -- just because.
- To be an adult is, among other things, to handle your money well. So keep practicing.
- Anybody can be a good listener when it's easy. It counts most when it's hard.
- The word "no" is limited in supply and effect, so don't waste it.
- Whether positive or negative, mean what you say and say what you mean.
- Kids don't miss ANYTHING.
- Realize that you can do some things "with" your children, and do some things "for" them. (Thanks, Dad).
- Never forget that your kids will be out of the house in 15 years, but your wife will still be with you. (Thanks, Mom).

I think I'll post a few pictures of today's adventures now...