Yesterday I wanted to marinade some venison roasts. So I put the roasts in a pyrex. Then I cut the onions and started looking for the spices I needed. I couldn't find all the spices so I cleaned out my spice cabinet. 30 minutes later I finished and realized that I still needed to add some wine to my marinade. So I went to my dining room for wine and realized that there may be a bottle leaking in my wine fridge. So I cleaned out the fridge and I dusted the bar. I windexed the granite and I realized that the rag I was using needed to go to the laundry room. So I took it in. Then I checked the laundry and realized that there was some funky sticker residue on Besu's sweatshirt so I used some Goo Gone and got it off. Then I decided I had better consolidate some my cleaning products so I started pouring and organizing. When I finished doing all that I had bottles I needed to recycle, so I took them to the bin in my kitchen, where I realized that I needed wine for my marinade....
It took me 90 minutes to make a simple marinade. Distraction is not my friend but imagine having to live this way... This is how Fitsum learns right now. Every night he comes home with a simple story sheet and questions to answer. But if we want to read the story we have to take it back and explain this and that and then explain more about the example I am using for the explanation. It takes a LOT of time. It is frustrating to him and lately I see he is absorbing less and less. At first he soaked it ALL up. He remembered everything. Now though he is truly processing so much from the minute he wakes til the minute he sleeps again and I think he is wearing out. About a month ago he received an assignment for a book report (didn't we used to do these about once a week?) he had to read a book, answer questions and design a book jacket for the story. He was not a happy camper. Reading is such a chore for him. He can sound out any word but understanding what it means is so complicated. I told Fitze that I would read a chapter a night with him. He chose a book called Shiloh Season. It is the 2nd in a trilogy about a boy and his dog. The first 2 weeks of reading were torture. In between homework, band practice, soccer and footsall practices we managed to get through a few chapters but he would beg me to stop after 5, 6, 7 pages each night. It was too much to take in and after a long day of school he needed a break. Finally though, after Thanksgiving, the story seemed to pick up for Fitsum. He began to look forward to reading each night and soon we were doing 3 and 4 chapters a night because he wanted to know what would happen next. We turned the report in last Friday and he was so happy. I had to help him reword his answers to the questions quite a bit since he doesn't have the vocab to elaborate but he did a great job. Yesterday my parents took he and Besu to a local production of A Christmas Carol and Fitsum recognized that Ebenezer Scrooge was like the bad man in our book. It sounds so silly but when learning a whole new language referencing a character like that is huge! Fitsum and I have decided that we will read the 3rd book in the Shiloh series next and then I told him we could move on to some funny books.
Adopting older children is never going to be a piece of cake. There are so many, many issues you don't even realize will be issues until they are home and in the thick of it all. But if you truly know & understand this going into the process and commit to doing what it takes, adopting older children pays off big time...
Just like my venison roasts. Mmmmm.
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