It's a Wonderful Life

"You hav a Vunderful life, Geneefer, yes?" Thus proclaims my Russian sister-in-law.

We had just returned from a spin around the lake in our perennially broken boat, which is having a rare bout of fixedness, just in time for us to miss a nice hot weekend at home, I might add.

She has a high-needs baby a month older than the lovely Eve. His name is Daniel, or Danika, or Danushka, or Danny. She is a very attentive mother, but Danny demands more, and no car seat either, please. I had already decided I had a wonderful life before she announced it. Eve could not be a better natured child, and Tom could hardly be a more idyllic father. I must remind myself of the wonder of my life often, but I am truly wonderfully blessed.

I hope the same for her someday. Right now, she must parent this difficult child almost all on her own, with her own mother about as far away as could possibly be, a husband who can not communicate with her in her own language, and an apartment in a landlocked town near Denver that could not be more unlike her bayside city in Russia. Her best friend in the states is a Ukrainian woman, who's parenting has led to an 8 year old who drinks beer--the friend begs her daughter not to do this, but who can control an 8 year old? I'm sorry, but WTH?! No wonder Russia is in such a decline. Okay, the Ukraine. Anastasia is scandalized, but I get the feeling that she thinks the same could happen to her--Daniel is the one in control. *Shudder*

I hope my brother becomes more involved before the childhood drinking begins. And I hope he gets a job with a future so that Anastasia can feel secure, and can visit her mom more regularly.

Three cheers for the land of the free, the "sensitive man" movement, and miraculously good babies!