Or larger, depending on your perspective. About a week ago, Auntie Pupule (aka Lynn) and Blaine started a new forum called Wala’au. Aunty spilled the beans too early and started inviting people to come visit, but Blaine did an excellent job at making it seem like it was ready for action.

I think maybe it was better that everybody got to see the board early, some people gave suggestions for what kind of categories should be added and even some have made graphics for the new design. Everyone feels like their contributing to the forum, just like preparing for one lu’au. So, if you’ve been here and there but you still hungry for more, then I suggest you go this place too.

Yesterday was the first of our visitation days with Kamalani. I always come up with these ideas that I think will work best for all of us and this is my latest idea.

Since Kamalani’s school is closer to my house than it is to Meg’s house, I thought it would be best to have her just sleep over on the weekdays when Meg works. Her work schedule is so screwy that she sometimes gets off of work at 4:30 and sometimes at 9:30. Then she gets Sunday and Mondays off so I decided, all by myself, that Kamalani shouldn’t have to live her life around Meg’s work schedule. Instead, I told Meg and hubby that Kamalani will stay with us from Tuesday (after school) until Friday (after Meg gets off work). This will help to keep her on a schedule that she can be comfortable with. Moreso what I can be comfortable with.

Take for instance Monday night. We were watching t.v. at 2 a.m. when the phone rang. We all know phone calls at that time of the morning are never good. When I picked up the phone, all I could hear was crying in the background. I said, “hello” and no one replied. I started getting nervous. I said, “hello” again. Finally Kamalani answered but she was crying. I asked her what was wrong and she said she was sleeping in the living room and her mom was in the bedroom with some of her friends. She wanted her mom so I told her to give the phone to her mom. When Meg got on the line, I asked her what what going on. She said that Kamalani just woke up fussy. Now, it’s common knowledge that Kamalani still needs to sleep next to someone, whether it be me and hubby or her mom. She still needs to feel secure when she’s asleep. So after a few choice words, Meg said she was going to tell her friends to leave so she could tend to Kamalani. I was worried that Kamalani would be late for school yesterday but when I picked her up, she said she was on time.

It’s the little things like that that makes me want to keep Kamalani here. She needs to be rested up for school so that she can be more alert. Lastnight she was so tired that after dinner and a nice warm bath, she fell asleep without any “Can I tell you something” tricks to stay up just a little longer. She woke up bright and early this morning, had her breakfast, I got her dressed and she was out the door and eager to get to school because the staff from here has put on a display at her school and they are teaching the children about engineering. She told us yesterday that she was so excited about going to school today.

Last week Meg had her oral surgery and ever since then, Kamalani has been staying with me and hubby. At first she was afraid of Meg because her face swelled up and she was taking pain meds and doing a lot of moaning and groaning. Those first days weren’t pleasant for any of us. But then, the swelling went down and still Kamalani refuses to go home with her mother. We don’t mind having her here but demmit, that girl wears us out.

We wake up at zero-early o’clock to get her ready for school. She takes nearly an hour to eat a bowl of oatmeal, then she gets washed up and dressed for school. By then we’re rushing her tiny little bundled body to the van. Luckily her school is only 4 minutes away. (She usually blames hubby if she’s late anyway.) Then we pick her up from school three hours later because the kindergarten grades only have half days. From the time she gets out of school, it’s non-stop talking and doing stuff. Stuff, as in talking, playing school, stringing beads for bracelets, talking, playing beauty shop, more talking, did I mention her non-stop talking?

So I’ve been planning stuff to do with her all week. Mind you it’s been 16 years since I had to deal with a 5 year old. Kamalani never really had a schedule so I thought it would be best for ME if I worked on a schedule for her that ended at 8:30 p.m., when she finally goes to sleep. She’s been having so much fun that she fights her sleep at night. Lastnight she thought that she would just call her mom to go home because 8:30 is too early for her to sleep. I told her that’s fine, she can call her mom but I will not do activities with her because she was breaking the agreement. Things were hunky dory for her when we were doing fun things but when it got down to bedtime, she decided the schedule was not for her. She was sooooo wrong. After she realized that I was not going to commit to any previous arrangements, she quickly changed her tune and apologized for crying. Soon after that she was tucked up in MY bed, snoring. The up side of having her stay with us is that she doesn’t whine or cry as much as when she’s with Meg and when she’s sleeping, she sleeps peacefully.

If only I had half the energy she has.

Kamalani borrows a book from her school library every week. She also brings home a book from her classroom everyday. She has a log that we sign whenever she reads a book or whenever we read a book to her. So far, she’s completed 2 log sheets, each with 25 signatures. Some of the selections she chooses are too easy for her but we feel as long as she enjoys reading them she’s doing great.

Today, she brought home a book entitled, “Dumpling Soup” and I read it to her tonight. It was the perfect book for her, especially since she’s been wanting to work with me while I prepare dishes. The book talked about family traditions and how families work together to make occasions special and memorable. The book also included a small glossary of Hawaiian, Korean, Japanese and Chinese terms that are often used in Hawaii (where the story takes place). I think my other grand daughter will also enjoy this story. Maybe I should call her tomorrow and read it to her over the phone.

This book brought back memories of being at my grandma’s house with all the aunties, uncles and cousins. All the ladies/girls would be cleaning lu’au leaves to wrap laulau while the men … well, I don’t know what the men/boys used to do because I was stuck in the kitchen. But when all the dishes were set up buffet style, all the hard work put into making it was all worth it. I miss those days; everyone is so far apart and those who live close to each other aren’t really making the most of their good fortunes by gathering for special occasions, like New Year’s Eve. I believe it was my grandma who kept our family together, it was her home that everyone came to and it is her house that I feel most “at home” in.