Too tired to come up with a snappy title...

Ahhhh- where to start?

How about this-
Even after a full night's sleep, I feel like I need to go back to bed.... for a week.

Yeah... I'm that tired.
I need a nap.
No, not a nap... I need one of those fairy tale kind of sleeps where someone knocks you out for a few years.
That would be lovely!

I remember when we hosted Vladik, I had a post about being exhausted. But I'm pretty sure it was later in the hosting program... not 4 days in.

Much of it is emotional exhaustion.
Daniels is emotionally STARVING for affection. He needs SO MUCH love, SO MUCH attention, SO MUCH positive reinforcement, SO MUCH physical affection, SO MUCH TLC, SO MUCH one-on-one, SO MUCH.... so much....
Mama....
Mama....
Mama....
Mama....

By the end of the day, I've heard it so much I'm tired of my own name.

Honestly, he probably would have been better in a home with no other children. It's not that he doesn't get along with them... well, actually, it's hard to tell if they all get along or not. There's not been a lot of interaction between them because he doesn't really want to play with them... all he wants is me- and my undivided attention.
I'm hoping this intense NEED lessens a little over the next 5 weeks, because I'm already beat.

It's not all emotional exhaustion though, he's up a couple of times a night wandering around the upstairs. I can't tell if he's sleepwalking or if he needs to use the bathroom and just isn't awake enough to find it. I always get up and steer him toward the bathroom though and that usually seems to be what he was looking for.
Unfortunately, he's so nearly asleep when he's up... I've discovered that I have to clean that area of the bathroom every morning... walls and all.

I'm pretty sure Diana is already bored.
She's a sweet girl-- FAR less needy than her brother. (Which is a good thing, because I honestly don't think I could handle 2 like him.)
All she really wants to do is play computer games.

We're going to run to Hobby Lobby today to let everyone pick out a craft thing. She does like to cross stitch and maybe that will allow her to do something she really loves.
We're also going to get some groceries and pick out some specific things (other than potato chips) that she and Daniels like to eat.

With both, I'm having to set A LOT of limits and A LOT of boundaries. With Diana, they haven't been hard to enforce. With Daniels... well... thats another story.

We were at CiCi's Pizza last night for supper, and there was an African American family there. Now, people of color are a rarity in Latvia... practically nonexistent... and Diana was looking hard. Not staring... but not far from it.  Quite honestly, she'd probably never seen in person someone with skin that dark. She wasn't being rude... just curious.
Daniels noticed her "staring" and he hauled off and smacked her.

Before the kids get on the plane to fly over, they're given a list of "Things they should know."  One of those things is to not stare at people... persons of color, handicapped, or otherwise. Well, Daniels remembered the "rule" and tried to correct his sister.
I told him "no hitting," and so he tried to explain-- loudly (because nothing is EVER quiet with Daniels)-- "NO LOOK BLACK MAN!"
Of course, this all happened at one of those occasional moments in public places when everyone in the building has a lull in their conversation all at the same time.

So... yeah. Good times. :-)