Skip to main content
7 quick takes...
 |
| A duck funeral. |
- Good morning! How’s your Monday?
Mine starts here, at the dining table. I am writing, the girls are cutting. We
got a pile of old magazines from a neighbour that I quickly scanned for nice
recipes but now they are in the girls’ hands. They are cutting out princesses
(women in pretty dresses from the fashion section) and all the attributes a
princess need. Cakes from the recipes section, books from the review section,
nice houses from the DIY section. They cut it all to size and will use
princesses to occupy their imaginary world. I should take a lesson or two from
these girls. I am annoyed about closed borders and the lack of options to get
things, but they show me how to be happy and make do with what you’ve got.
- Making do with what I’ve got, is
what I have been struggling with in the past week. Many people have asked how
we are doing after the break-in and I can say that we are fine. We sleep well,
and nobody seems to be dealing with higher fear and anxiety levels. For that I
am very grateful. But, I am bored. The longer I go without the laptop and
camera, the more I realise how much of what I did evolved around those two
things. When this year started, I knew that I would have time. The girls need
me, but not as much as they used to. They can dress themselves, make their own
breakfast, help themselves to the toilet and they are very capable of
entertaining themselves. I don’t need to do much in the house either as we have
a full-time help. So, I decided that I would learn new skills this year as I
have some plans for what I would like to do in the future. I signed up for a
course in graphic design and was doing a video editing course too. I loved both
of them. But now, without the tools to do that, I am stuck. And it’s hard. And
I find myself ungrateful and silly that it’s this hard. Because isn’t it
selfish to feel so bad about not being able to fulfill the need for
self-actualisation if many people in the world around you are not even sure if
their physiological and safety needs will be met? (Maslow’s pyramid) Why do I
feel so defeated? I don’t have an answer but do hope that travel bans will be
lifted soon. So that it will be easier for all people to have their needs met.
- Doris, telling me at six o clock
that I should not wake up because they are working on a surprise. Sophie,
beaming, because surprises and presents are her love language. Hushed voices,
handwritten letters with lots of hearts and a nice breakfast. Yesterday was
Mother’s Day and they certainly did make me feel loved and appreciated. Hartmut
and the girls made a mobile out of baobabs and big seed pods. They had painted
the baobabs and decorated them with feathers to make them look like birds and
it’s hanging beautifully on our veranda. When I see it, I know that I am loved.
Motherhood is beautiful, and hard. But mostly beautiful. I love being a mom and
watching the girls grow up is a privilege. It has shaped me in ways I never
expected and forced me to grow in areas that needed work. I am nowhere near
perfect, and as the girls grow and their needs change, more of my shortcomings
will appear. But there is grace. Not because of me, but because of God who knew
what he did when he placed these two special girls in my care. I may not be
perfect, but His plan is, and knowing that helps when days are hard.
- I am not the only mom in our
household. Last week both the duck eggs and the chicken eggs hatched. As a
result, we have now sixteen chicks and ten ducklings. Quite the nursery, and I
am glad that we don’t have to socially distance ourselves from the bird house
because those yellow balls of fluff are irresistible. I am so glad that the
girls get to grow up with all the animals. Not only because they are so cute,
but also because they learn big lessons about the fragility of life and how
brutal the world can be. There were eleven ducklings but one of them was
dragged out of the house by her older brother and sister. They were born in
January, but now that there are new ducklings, their mom has no attention for
them anymore. (I am probably just projecting feelings here) Anyway, they
dragged a little duckling through a tiny gap in the duck house and killed it.
Doris found what was left of it, and we had a little funeral yesterday. The
girls are pragmatic about it, they know that nature can be cruel. And although
I would love them to believe in fairy tales and happy endings, it’s good to know
that it isn’t always like that.
- A concentrated face, a grey pencil
and a paper that’s balanced on her lap. She looks up, then down at her paper.
Draws something, looks up again. Sophie has a new hobby. She wants to be an
artist when she is big and she is taking it very serious. She has always
enjoyed drawing but since a few days she takes her pencils and paper outside to
sketch. The ducks, and now the ducklings, are her favourite subject. She spends
hours observing, drawing and practicing and I am so grateful that she has the
time, the space and the calmness in her heart to do that. That nobody is
rushing her and that she doesn’t need to stick to a schedule that says that
drawing class is over in 10 minutes.
- I wanted to write about the
corona-situation in Malawi but I actually don’t know what to write because it’s
confusing. Three weeks ago a lock down was supposed to start, but that got
postponed. Within a week the government was to announce the new plan. Clearly
there isn’t a new plan, because the president has kept very quiet. Well, except
for when he addressed a large crowd about why Malawians should vote for him
during the next elections. Because, when you talk politics, covid-19 runs away
and nobody gets sick. I hope.
- At the moment, there is no electricity
but as soon as it is back we will start to bake. Savoury muffins, pancakes,
quiche. Proper picnic food because tomorrow we are going on an outing and since
those are few are far between these days, we are excited! Hartmut needs to
survey a piece of land where is company wants to build their next project and
it is in an area where I have never been so we will come along. I am looking
forward to the car ride, to seeing new views and to the sense of adventure that
trips like that bring. I hope you have something to look forward to too. Have a
great week!
 |
| Our sketch artist |
