Parenting Advice - from the Electrician/Plumber

Well today was Scott's first full day of work in Shanghai - and subsequently Anne and Juliet's first day home alone. Work was good for Scott. Home was not so good for Anne and Juliet. The workmen were back to fix the shower - again - because the last fix didn't work. On the positive side, our good friend - the Electrician/Plumber was back plying his craft and catching up on cartoons. At one point today, after talking to Juliet about cartoons (clarification note - he speaks no English and she speaks no Mandarin) he came into the kitchen and motioned to Anne like he needed something. Anne went to the fridge and offered our pal a bottle of water. He refused and she then motioned as if she were eating a bowl of cereal. He nodded yes, and he then pointed to Juliet as if to say "Woman, it's 11:30 and this child hasn't had lunch yet - feed her now!" We forgot to mention, this was all taking place while the Electrician/Plumber was shirtless and showing off his 80-pound frame (coincidentally, that's equivalent to about 36 kilograms for our Libyan readers.)

The day hit a low point when Anne, after just having dodged falling debris in the kitchen, walked upstairs to the bathroom to find cigarette butts on the floor. After this little discovery, Thomas was instructed to close the window (as the "blood suckers" were pouring into the house) and inform the men to stop smoking. After this, they fixed the issue and we now expect to be able to use the shower in about a week. And at this point, we're so used to walking naked through the entry hall to take a shower that really, what's another seven days?

If all these posts give you the idea that because of the language barrier our lives are basically one big game of charades, then we're giving the correct impression. Every time we get out of the car, the locals get a big kick out of the whole "thumb pinkie" telephone gesture we make to Mr. Chen and us mouthing "I'll call you" - just like 14 year old love birds do when their mom picks them up from the mall.