lesson 1, lesson 2, back to lesson 1!

Lesson 1

Ghadi is Now experimenting the use of the word "sorry"...

He says (or does) something bad (like words he shouldn't say, waiving his hand as if he wants to hit my leg, saying didi, pretending he's throwing the milk on the table, etc, etc...--to the infinity) and after he does this ON PURPOSE, he waits for my reaction in suspense, and the moment i express my anger, 

he looks at me with his wide challenging eyes...and he says:

"mamaaa...(2-4 seconds)...tholly!"

(accompanied by a wicked smile, a blink in the eye, and a really naughty triumphant look), 

fully confident that I'll smile, hug him and tell him sweet things about what a big boy he is (which I used to do when he first learned to say sorry, as to show him the importance of apology... !)

Lesson 2

How can I explain to him now that “sorry” isn't the magic wiper, and that it does not always fix the naughty acts, and that it is just not a run away path from whatever we do....

aaaaaaahh... this is a really deep lesson of life..

and maybe it is too early to start teaching him such lessons...

back to Lesson 1

so until later time maybe I'll just keep on smiling, hugging him, telling him how proud I am cuz he said tholly...!

A concert at St. Joseph Church

Last Friday we attended a concert at St. Joseph Church- Monot Street

Music played was for Beethoven and Puccini, accompanied with Antonins University coral.

The church is well known for the fact that the sound is perfectly transmitted without the need for any acoustic equipments and with minimum reverberating!
The best part of the evening was that we went there by foot (about 15 min.away from where i live), and therefore we enjoyed discovering the cozy cafés, extravagant restaurants, and crazy stores of Monot Street.

Among these I recommend the Recto-Verso Art Café, and Luanatic store! Really cool stuff…

My little sailor!

This weekend we went to Jounieh Bay.

We fed the fishes; we played in a –mini- public parc

And we went for a short trip in a boat.

It was the first time for Ghadi, he enjoyed it so much (though I expected that he might get scared)…

He insisted on turning the wheel by himself!

He was so proud and i was like flying.

We had great fun watching him and the amazing Jounieh bay with the unique landscape in the background.

The spring breeze was gentle and the see was so friendly and calm offering us a really great journey.

after we landed Ghadi turned to us saying: el yom rkibna bil bateau, demain bil avion!

("today boat, tomorrow aeroplane!")

Good he didn't mention the train! that would have been an embarrassing situation, to explain why we don't have any trains in Lebanon!

Janerik

I don’t know how this fruit is called in other languages, nor the origin of the Arabic name, all I know is the beiruti identification and that “janerik” is definitely one of my favorite fruits ever!

Dipped in salt, the sour, juicy, crunchy taste with the fresh vivid color is what makes it soooo special…

One bite could fill your mouth with amazing sensations; it transfers you to another mental situation, and makes you instantly avid for more!

I could eat it as launch, dinner or even as breakfast (well, having it as breakfast was only when I was pregnant! Not bad though...)

Now waiting for my second-best-fruit coming up soon!

Hiking in Jabal Moussa!

Last Sunday we went to Jabal Moussa Reserve. 

It is a mountainous area situated beyond Nahr Ibrahim at an altitude of 350-1700m

The trip was organized by the Lebanese scouts, i.e. great atmosphere, kids, parents, grandparents, a combination of many ages. 

We were accompanied by 5 guides who encouraged us to go on and introduced us to the many treasures found in this mountain.

 It started well, we were all enthusiastic and ready to go!

 and of course, the most enthusiastic guys to the left with hands up ARE my company!

We left Meiruba hills and started to climb around 50m steep hill leading to the heart of Jabal Moussa. 

Bubble Fun!

A gift from my dear sister Hala, this invention is offering us amazing times
and of course,
at Teta's balcony, it has a very special taste!
slippery floor, wet hands and soap on hair, clothes, everywhere...
but still, the laughter and excitement are worth the mess!

Movies-Books review -1

During the last week,
i have watched 5 Movies, and i have bought 3 books!
it feels sooooooo good!

The Sun under Tuscany (it made me Want to visit Italy again and have a walk under that warm sun! maybe this could be our destination in the so-planned-sisters trip?)
Edge of Darkness (another action movie revealing american black pages)
Alice in Wonderland (i've always hated Alice, and even Johnny Depp couldn't change my mind about her!)
New Moon (yes, vampires and Werewolves, errrrrrr :D)

and the AMAZING Sherlock Holmes!

Nieces!

During the last week, I had the best time ever with my lovely nieces who seems to be so grown up that I had to make effort to catch up with all their sarcastic comments, their teen-language-abbreviations (BTW-LMYL-BRB-etc…), and also, their shocking-terrifying-admirable knowledge about life-and all the related stuff!

we had crazy moments –

everywhere! 

Aley

Jumana’s visit!

Talking about things i do for the first time in my life, the second "First" this year was during my sister’s vacation here in Lebanon!

It was a crazy week, with little time to sleep, so much time to enjoy, and a non-stop funny journeys!

So this time it is an activity: something that has to do with climbing, u hang to a rope which is hanged to another rope, and pouf, u jump, walk on a thin log, slide, all at around 5m height…(not that high, but high enough to make my heart bump quickly)…

Ghadi was crying and shouting all the time (thought I’m climbing up to the clouds?)

Jumana slipped (but still she was saved by the safety rope) and had a funny swing in the air…

At that stage I freaked out and slid back to the starting point, took off safety rope, and climbed down the stairs…what a shame, heh? Even Ghadi was looking with innocent eyes, and a glimpse of sarcastic irony (or did I imagine that!)

Anyways, it was pure fun, next time I’ll go far and redo ALL the activities (Escalade, mountain climbing, etc…)

But until then I should be practicing some sports, cuz the wisdom I got after that journey is:

“Sometimes we would suddenly face a mountain to climb, and we’d better be really FIT to do that without safety rope!” Moi!

Combination II:

my second AMAZING combination: 

Ghadi + Nature

what could be more beautiful than the innocent and the pure?

Full harmony
Peace and never-ending Joy
in one word:
simply

"Spring!"

"Mommy, shou isma hay?"

We were in the car 2 days ago, heading to the nursery, and ghadi was holding a small pen/fan with a tweety head,

and then he looked at me, pointed at the tweety head and asked me:

“mama shou isma hay?”

We strive for happiness, we go to the most distant places on earth, we drown ourselves in the deepest careers and we tend to grab the trails of joy with the tip of our fingers…

But believe me, this question filled my heart with a waterfall of feelings I would not even try to describe.

I suddenly felt I’m having the whole world in these few words I’ve just heard.

Mama-shou-isma-hay is not just a question; it’s a wide gate ready to open for whole new life perceptions.

But later through the day all those lovely sensations were replaced by a sudden panic when he ran to me, holding the book I’m reading now, pointing at the only figure on the inside of its back cover, saying : "mama shou hay?"

The figure shows a creepy image of a crime scene, really frustrating image…

I sighed… took the book away, and said: go play football!

You think it’s over?

Not that fast!

He seeks the book (and surprisingly finds it!) and searches for the image and keeps asking: “shoo hay mommy?”

.

.

I tore the page.

End of the story?

rather the start of a brand new stage parenting this lovely boy!