The Island Diaries: On work this week.

Another week of work come and gone. And what a week it has been…Al and I have silently vowed to never have triplets if we can help it, but should it happen we will be fully equipped. Fully.

This week was a long one and a little hard. We were relatively short staffed, we said goodbye to Jenna and Shireen, our kids were out of control a lot of the time, they actually got sick of watching Ice Age, and four o clock saw two very tired girls every day it felt like.

Flower Song sends anyone off to Nepal in good spirits.

But then we get talking over our customary coffee and cookies at four thirty and all of a sudden things get funny.

Like when Janaka came howling in, dripping wet and furiously pointing in the direction of little Ms. Boomie. First of all Boomie cannot be her real name. As we have not the first clue about what her real name is, Boomie she remains. Second let us clarify that Boomie is a doll. She is a tiny little pixie of three, with an olive complexion and big brown eyes that would get her the entire Hershey’s factory should she take a fancy to it. She is also a pint-sized terror and has boys three times her size running for cover. Poor little Janaka ventured into her clutches and subsequently was held under a faucet until not an inch of him was dry. I had to grope frantically for self control as the strong desire to laugh just about killed me and any sense of justice the situation may have salvaged.

Boomie.

Or like when our older boys, under the instructions of “now boys, we learned all about cars and boats, we’re going to make our own boats!” got really excited and proceeded to create little origami paper boats…colored in flawless yellow, green and red. “Bob Marley” one of them informed us. Naturally.

Prem.

Or when new volunteer Tessa decided that a swing in the baby room would be a good idea. We are in wholehearted agreement with everything but the methods.

Tess: “Now where could we hang it from, I wonder? AH! How about that massive hook in the ceiling? Yes, that one! The one that looks like it could fish a whale out of the Pacific!”

(I am paraphrasing here)

Al: “Perfect.”

Tess: “We better see if it’s strong enough. How about (meaningful scan over Al’s little frame), how about we lift you up and hang you from the hook! I mean, if it’ll hold you, I’m sure it would hold a baby…”

Al: (appreciative laugh at this little joke)

…until she was lifted three seconds later by a clearly not-joking Tessa and found herself dangling from a hook in the ceiling like a piñata. It held.

Chiko.

We’ve also been taking them to the grounds most days which helps burn off ridiculous amounts of energy and makes afternoon sessions a little easier…how is it that kids can store that much energy anyway?

They watch elephants and tractors...