One Mumma to Another!

We were driving home in a taxi and were slowing to a stop at a set of lights.

We had been in Jakarta for almost 7 days and our 'security briefing' was still fresh in my mind, "Please, please DO NOT give anyone (beggars) money".

A women approached our taxi. She was baby wearing with a sling wrapped around her body. She stopped outside my window where I sat with 3 of my children squashed in around me. The women looked directly into my eyes. One mumma to another. She motioned towards her baby.  Please help me her eyes pleaded.

My children watched her, Initially not understanding what she wanted. I started to internally panic. The words "do not give anyone money" swirled around in my head. But here was this woman. A mother. Just like me. Only so different and living a life that I can't comprehend. Even when it's staring me in the face.

Her gaze bore down on me heavily. Especially on my 'mother heart'. How can I ignore this woman? What purpose will that achieve? What message will I teach my children about humanity? About helping others?

My children kept staring.

I rationalised. Giving away money is not the answer. There are other ways we will help. How can I sit here with my children and give nothing to this woman? Her sleeping baby. My mind raced back and forth. Confused with logic and the reality in front of me.

The light turned green and we drove away. I watched as the women and her sleeping child disappeared into the sea of traffic that consumed them.

It took everything in me not to sob. We were on our way home from church. The irony was painful. 

The longer I am here, the more I understand on a practical level, why we are asked not to give money. But I am also learning, that doing what feels right is so much more important than being practical, and there is always room for exceptions.

One of those exceptions is on Sunday afternoon on our way home from church, when a Mother who is now familiar to us approaches our car and looks directly at me. One mumma to another.

Changes changes everywhere....

Her first day of Pre-school!

By  far, the person in our family that has struggled with the adjustment of life away from OZ (and her Grandma) has been this little lady. 

I could share SO many stories about the ridiculous situations I have been in with this girl since we arrived here in Jakarta. As a very small sampling of the shenanigans, Imagine this:

Child running away from park. Mother chasing child. Child stripping while running ridiculously fast. Child throwing clothes AND nappy in all directions (she had a big head start). Naked child jumping in to unfenced pool followed by fully dressed mother jumping in to pool to get child. {I thought about stripping too, but there were too many of our lovely new neighbours watching}. "Hi, we're the new family.....yes, we're from Australia......maybe we can chat later....when my child is not naked and I'm not all wet....". :)!

Anyway, the shenanigans are not really what this post is about, even though they seem to rule my life at the moment :)!

{trying to get a photo of her uniform....why do I try to get posed shots?}

What this post is really about is that my baby started Pre-school! I was hoping to send her one day a week, but the 'Tiger Mothers' of South East Asia will have no such thing! Most of the pre-schools I looked at only offer the option of 5 hours a day, 5 days a week (Almost the same as full time school in Australia!)

But in the end we found a little school that does a few hours in the morning and while we still have to pay for 5 days a week, the school is fine if I don't send her everyday (unlike other universities pre-schools we looked at which said she MUST attend everyday otherwise she would "fall behind"......umm, she's 3!)  

I am thrilled {and surprised} that she is not crying when I drop her off. A couple of other schools we checked out, she screamed the house down like you wouldn't believe. So it's a good sign that she's happy to go and happy when I pick her up.

Signing herself in.....with a selection of animal stamps

And the funniest thing - when she came home last Friday, she had a homework folder complete with homework inside! The other kids thought it was hilarious! Jasmin couldn't believe that her 3 year old sister has homework before she does!