MomFails...I better stop counting.

Mom Fail=a mother falling short of expectations that might affect her kids' happiness.

I've been eating some humble pie over here.
Luckily, my kids aren't harbouring any resentment.

Halloween Costumes: Ballerina Kitty Cat and her side-kick, Squeaky Mouse

A few examples:

Halloween: Kids do not trick-or-treat here; Halloween is a relatively newly adopted North American concept. My fails were two-fold:
1. I was told kids could dress up if their teacher allowed it. Coming from a school in Canada where costumes are NOT allowed (can you imagine teaching a class full of masked and armed children?!), I wanted to play it safe. I didn't want my kids seen as "those crazy foreigners", so kept it simple.  OMG-some of the costumes rivalled Hollywood's best. Our little hairbands, mom's eye-liner whiskers and skeleton t-shirt looked pretty bah humbug...
2. I thought sending Halloween pencils to school, sourced from Canada (thanks Kelly!), would be a unique way for my kids to share their traditions. DING - wrong. They do candy at school, copious amounts, sent from parents. The pencils, at least, were novel: me - "Did they like the pencils?" Jonty - "um, yeah. But mom, only you sent in things that are not junk food". #lifeofadietitianskid

School Sanctioned Decorating: To dress up the school for seasonal celebrations, students take home a photocopied picture, and return it decorated. For November's Sao Martinho festival, the picture was a chestnut.  We coloured in one side with pencil crayons. We stayed in the lines, chose typical colours; I thought it looked nice.  Until we went to the festival and saw everyone else's...we're talking 3-D, Louvre worthy pieces here, using all sorts of materials! Some were even transformed into sewn chestnut pillows!
Come Christmas, I was better prepared, and we too went 3D, reusing materials from our recycling. But again, the effort some (grandmas?) put in, put ours to shame!

What a party! Families send in snacks, and attend from 10-noon to eat and hang out.
Mark noticed he was one of the tallest people there...a novelty for my 5'11 hubby...
See the hanging chestnuts? 

Tables upon tables of homemade cakes, cookies, pop, juice, dried figs, chestnuts, baked sweet potatoes.
Total free-for-all for everyone!

The main entrance to the school. See the chestnuts on the bannister?
Gabi's classroom is the one on the bottom left. Jonty's is up these stairs, to the left.

Birthday Celebrations: Jonty turned 9 last week. He and Gabi had come home a few times and talked about so-and-so's birthday, and how they got treats.  Back home, I usually send some sort of fruit for my kids to celebrate their birthdays at school (blame the dieititian in me who feels you don't need junk to celebrate, and that all kids can use more fruit in their lives). But I didn't want my kids to stick out this one year they are here. So I ordered some finger food dessert from the local bakery that did not require teacher support to hand out, napkins or extra dishes: Jonty's favorite, mini custard tarts.  He took them to school. At pick up, I asked how it went. He said "Mom, you were supposed to come in and deliver the treats. They didn't even sing." Oh, my heart.  It didn't help that the same day, Gabi's classmate had had a birthday.  She shared that both his parents had come into the classroom with a cake, candles, juice, cups, plates, napkins etc, and Parabens was sung. Oi.

Outside the bakery--so excited to share treats with his class

Jonty shares a birthday with my cousin Goncalo
It was a great party!

Roller Hockey Age Group: Back in September, Jonty and I went to check out the 9-11 year old team. When I spoke to the coach, I said Jonty was in grade 4. He asked how old he was, I said 8 (he is a December baby). I was told he belonged in an age group below. I was confused, but went with it. I didn't think to elaborate with his birth month; note: 3 months in, I still haven't figured out at what age kids start school here. Is it their birth year like in Canada?  September-September, like in the USA? Something else? Jonty is younger than some classmates by 1.5 years. Anyhow, long story short, it was discovered about 2 months in that Jonty is too old for the age group, and needs to move up. He is still pretty green, and the thought of leaving his friends behind to go to a more intimidating age group is, understandably, unappealing.  He is going to take the holidays to decide. Tonight he said: "I wish I had never played at all." Oh, stupid mix-up, why didn't I ask more questions?!
Sigh.

He scored two goals at his last game.

Funny we are not taking our own advice: Mark and I lived in Holland for a year, pre-kids, and we always swore, if we did move abroad again, it had to be for at least 2 years. Why? Staying 2 years allows you to figure it all out the first year, and enjoy it to the fullest the second. Back then, we would go away on weekends, come back and see the evidence that we missed some big festival/party in our town...

LOL. Undoubtedly, more MomFails to come, but we are going to be fine. :)

Why do I care that they learn Portuguese?

My kids did not speak Portuguese when they arrived here. Sure, they could understand my very basic Portuguese: "brush your teeth, eat your supper, don't hit your sister"; but anything more elaborate, or coming from a Portuguese speaker that wasn't me or my parents...questionable.

Proudly sporting their school shirts

I have been speaking Portuguese to them since they were born. Mark (not Portuguese) has been so supportive, even if at times it meant the conversation was well beyond him, or he was the butt of our little jokes. What a guy!

She got mail! On her way to daycare

Jonty always spoke it back until at age 3, he refused. My options weren't many: Pretend I didn't understand his English? Force him? Bribe him? I settled on controlling what I could control (I continued to speak it) and let go of what I could not (accept his choice to speak English). Being the eldest, about 50% of what Jonty heard at home from 0-3 years was Portuguese. For Gabi, her brother was added to the mix, so the Portuguese she heard waned to ~30% (and Jonty has always translated my words for her; curious.). With 2 siblings and dad speaking English, Catarina got even less. And then, as our kids' English language progressed, and family conversations exploded in depth and length, it was becoming more difficult for me to keep it up. And yeah, I started to get lazy--English is just easier.

Off to a Portuguese League Soccer Game with family - GO BENFICA!
Seating capacity at Estadio da Luz - 65,000

Solution? Move to a Portuguese speaking country, sign them up for Public School, and dunk them in!  I feel like I should insert a *cackle* here...? 

Our little "reindeer" is so excited because
"O Pai Natal vai chegar!" (Santa is coming!)

But here we are, 3 months later, and they are communicating in full Portuguese sentences, with the older two reading and writing it too. I am impressed at how quickly the language has come, and SO PROUD! Sure there is still lots of room for improvement, but they are farther ahead than I expected. Jonty is a bit tentative: he doesn't like making mistakes. He uses gestures and single words if he can. But he understands everything, and when he does speak, his sentences are complete and perfect. Gabi, perhaps because she is younger, speaks more confidently, without fear or awareness of mis-conjugations etc. They are both now able to order food at the cafe, chat with friends at recess and around town, make requests of the librarian, tell relatives about their week, ask other kids for the ball back at the park or beach (Gabi usually does the talking, with Jonty at her side for moral support). The best is when they translate for daddy and help him with his Portuguese homework (another shout out to my man--total trooper!). Catarina's vocabulary is about 50% Portuguese, mixing the two languages seamlessly: e.g. "I não quero go to cama" (I don't want to go to bed). Jonty loves quizing her on the feminine and masculine: "Would mommy say obrigadA or obrigadO?" (and she gets it right every time!). I don't know if she realizes she understands and speaks two different languages? She no longer calls me "mommy"--I'm "mãe" now. She is singing Christmas carols in Portuguese too--so cute!
The kids play this game in the car where, for 2 minutes, they can only speak in Portuguese. Love it.

New threads - an official Benfica soccer outfit

For me, I speak Portuguese fluently, but have an English accent.  I get lots of complements from the locals though, as they assume I am a foreigner. Growing up, only Portuguese could be spoken at home. I can still hear my mom scolding my sisters and I when she caught us speaking English. What's more, my mom home-schooled us in Portuguese on Saturday mornings, to ensure we could read and write it too. Yes, every child's dream--regular school Monday-Friday, and another half day on Saturday...
As much I resented it then, I am SO thankful for my mom's commitment--I'm sure it wasn't easy. Obrigada Mãe!

Gabi asked the make-up artist:
"Quero ser uma fada" (I want to be a fairy)

So, why do I care so much that my kids speak multiple languages? We speak English--the "international language"; do they really need anything else? Probably not. Portuguese immersion, French immersion school in Ontario--why bother? I guess its because I feel that the world is big and exciting, with so much to see, explore and learn--I believe that being able to communicate in different languages makes it a less intimidating, more accessible place. Plus--I think languages are fun! Personally, speaking 4 has provided me with opportunities to live, study and travel abroad, and like any parent who shares their skills with their kids, it's something I can and want to give to my kids. Maybe they'll use them, maybe they won't, but they'll have them in their tool kit :)

Outside the candy shop - this bunny has a suit for every occasion!

And with family scattered throughout the world (Portugal, Mozambique, Brazil, Spain, Holland...), there are friendly faces and great conversations waiting!

Maybe Dutch immersion in Holland next?!

Is there a Doctor in the house?

Three visits to the doctor in 1 week...you'd think we're not eating enough apples!

Now, if only Jonty also had Apollo's power to heal the sick...
Using the bow&arrow he and daddy made out of bamboo from the woods.

Doctor Visits:

• Jonty's subcutaneous lesion got infected
• I needed a physical to get a Portuguese driver's license, and 
• Gabi was hit with a 7-day gastro-bug. 

On top of that, Catarina had pinworms and Mark caught a bit of Gabi's bug, but luckily, those did not require a doctor. Last week was a tough week...

Fortunately, it has been seamless enough adapting to the Portuguese nationally funded health care system.  As Portuguese citizens, the kids and I can access the public stream; there are private healthcare clinics and hospitals, but we are happy to use the free one!

Once we updated our Citizenship cards with our new address in Sesimbra, we were able to register at the local health clinic (a block closer than the school--gotta love a small town!). We were immediately assigned to a family doctor who is available by appointment (and saw us last week without one!), every weekday from 8am-2pm. No waiting list? Point Portugal! Adults pay ~$6 per visit, kids are free.
Outside of that, there is a walk-in clinic at the same place, everyday from 3pm-9pm. Just like back home, the wait is loooong!  Prescriptions are partially subsidized.

Our local health centre - 5 minute walk from home
(a good thing when Gabi needed to be carried!)

Musings of a mother:

1. Portugal's version of Telehealth acts like Triage as well as helping determine what care is needed. At the end of your call, if the nurse feels you should see a doctor at the clinic or go to hospital, they figure out the closest place for you, forward your case there, and get you "in line" before you arrive. Then you don't have to repeat all the details when you see the doctor, and your wait is shorter. Sweet.

2. E-health records work here!  All our medical information is on our citizenship cards.  When you arrive at any health facility, your card is inserted into an e-card reader and voila--everything is there.  Come on Canada, our turn! 

3. The public clinics seem under-funded compared to Canada.  Small things: old diagnostic equipment, run-down waiting areas and bathrooms, no hand sanitizer for the public, the doctor himself complaining about the bare-bones system...

4. The closest hospitals to us are 45 minutes away by car. We almost had to take Gabi in (and this week we had no car). I now have a tiny sense of the stress single parents of multiple kids, families without cars (who wants to take a puking child on transit/in a cab?), parents in rural communities, and low-income households endure with sick kids. Sincere PROPS. 

Gabi is 5lbs lighter, but on the mend. Jonty's pain is gone, Mark is fine, Catarina is worm-free, and I hope to get my new license tomorrow. Yay for modern medicine!

A great way to get some Vitamin C: 
a little paper cone filled with fruit displayed in an ice cream cone holder.

Celebrating the return of Gabi's appetite at her favorite pastry shop.

Day 5 of missing school: crank the carols and make Christmas cards while sitting on our sunny balcony watching the ocean! Christmas is going to be a little different this year...

Adding Spice with Extra-Curriculars

Just like back home, our family does best with scheduled activities to get us out of the house, be social outside our family nucleus, and try something new. The allure of a relaxing, calm weekend morning, just hanging out at home, seems eternally beyond us...sigh!

Thus far, we've landed on the following activities:

Roller Skating - every Saturday morning, we walk to a super retro 1950's roller rink, complete with arena seating. For an hour and a bit, we all roll around to the musical prowess of U2 (same CD every time). The kids LOVE it!

Our confident Roller Girl--
with pink Dora skates to boot!

Roller Hockey - Jonty is on a roller hockey team, with practices 2 evenings a week, and games twice a month on Sunday mornings between 10 and noon. This schedule is so civilized after our ice hockey experience in Peterborough with 7am games and practices... 

As you can imagine, stopping, turning, and sliding is super different on roller skates, but he's getting there.  After watching his game last week, Gabi was keen to try. So they are now going to practices together.  The club has been great--LENDING us all the equipment!  

Note: helmets are not worn.  This is really weird for us...

Go Sesimbra!

Rules are similar to ice hockey, minus icing and offside.
Oh, and you can't hit the ball with your skates. 

Giving it a try!

Community Theatre - Gabi is our diva; she loves to dance, sing, and dress up. So, she and I have joined a family Community Theatre where, once a week, we do different activities like improv, acting, stage movement, etc.  The goal is to create a play. Day 1, Gabi stood in front of the group and sang "A Whole New World" in English--no fear. She was made for this ;)

Portuguese Language Classes - Mark realized last week that he might not be able to understand Catarina much longer, as her Portuguese has exploded.  Where she would have once said "Mommy, I want more leite please", she now says "Mae, I quero mais leite se faz favor". So our super-daddy started school this week. 

Mark's First Day of Portuguese School.
They grow up so fast!

Badminton - Jonty trains badminton at the high school once a week.  He has his first tournament in two weeks.  It's a few towns over: family road trip! The school does organize transportation, but for his first tourney, we are going to take him.

Library & Movie/City Theatre - The library here has story hour every other weekend where kids enter a mini auditorium and listen to a story complete with puppets and sets. The alternating weeks have workshops: painting, arts&crafts, movement. The Theatre hosts "Family Sundays" with family friendly theatrical productions once a month, and cartoon movies twice a month. We go when we can. Yesterday we had tickets for the musical "Hakuna Matata".  Poor Mark--he couldn't even understand the storyline, let alone the dialogue...the kids translated.

Story Hour - the Portuguese version of "Stone Soup"

Getting cosy for a theatrical production about "Fear".
Jonty got called up on stage!

Tennis - I found a spot to play and learn tennis, and hope to sign up in January. Yay!

Another family past-time has become going for a walk along the beach on weekend evenings, and stopping for pastries and coffee. Family favorite: Farturas (anyone read Percy Jackson?!)--deep fried batter rolled in cinnamon sugar and served hot.  A piece of heaven!

Cruisin' the boardwalk

He got him a "Portuguese Soccer Star" haircut

Contemplating life, or her next dive... 

Farturas are DELICIOUS!

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...'tis the season!

What do you do on a rainy Sunday afternoon?
Pop into a cafe, eat yummy pastries and watch the soccer game on TV!

Visits from the Tooth Mouse!

My kids insist on keeping their fallen teeth!

Thanks to Gabi, our household has had 3 visits from the tooth mouse!  Although Portugal has both a tooth fairy and a tooth mouse, the mouse has jurisdiction in our town.  Gabi insists on keeping her teeth, so a note always has to accompany the tooth under the pillow.  The tooth mouth scuttles under the pillow and has left 1 Euro per tooth!  Poor Jonty wishes he could lose more teeth...

Such a toothless smile, while holding delicious Razor Clams!

Gabi was quick to hand her Euros over to the bank (mom and dad are the bank tellers), who inputs it as a deposit on her google sheet bank card.  An example of how "time" has helped us get to things like allowance and money management that just never got done before!

At story time at the library--her smile has changed to show her lack of teeth!

Weekend Wanderings

Portugal is almost 900 years old.  So yeah, castles, battlefields, legends, medieval villages, churches of every architectural era, and historical monuments are rampant.  Each village/town/region is known for something gastronomically unique: a liquor, a dessert, a main dish, a type of bread...

Mark and I want to experience, see and taste it all.  But alas, life with kids dictates differently (thank goodness for our weekly date day)! We are figuring out our weekends: balancing down time at home with taking advantage of the fact we live in Europe(!).

A picture is worth a thousand words:

Praia do Meco -- huge waves and optional nudism. When in Rome...will spare you that family photo!

The view of Sesimbra from the 900 year old castle on the hill

St. Justa's Elevator - Lisbon

Deciding what sea creature to have for lunch...

Riding a Tuk Tuk in downtown Lisbon - pretty sure we broke all "safety in vehicle" laws...

The entrance to my cousin's apartment building - tall doorways were an influence of the Moors from over 1000 years ago

On the ferry home from Troia - a beach village where we hung out with cousins

Making friends at a local festival

The festival was celebrating the harvest of the Camponesa apple - a variety found only in this region

In Setubal on "date day" - famous for fried cuttlefish (like this one!)

Cabo Espichel - a hike along the coast on "date day "

Palacio da Pena (caslte) in Sintra where royalty vacationed since the early 1800's

Same castle, our group of Princesses!

Bacalhoa winery in Azeitao, 10km from home--maker of Moscatel and many other delicious wines. 
For 3 euros, we tried lots...yes, it was "date day"; ie. no kids.

After some much needed lunch, in Azeitao.

In Obidos, a town built in the 1200s, within medieval castle walls. 
Meet our knight, our warrior princess, and our court jester!  

Trying Ginga from Obidos - sour cherry liqueur served in chocolate shot glasses

In Sao Pedro de Moel - I spent 4 summer holidays here with my aunt, uncle and cousins.
Thrilled to share with my kids!

In Aljubarrota - a battlefield where, in 1300s, 8,000 of the good guys beat 42,000 of the Castellanos (Spanish),
and Portugal secured independence from Spain

The Monastary in Batalha - the most visited monument in Portugal. It took almost 200 years to build...

In Nazare - home to the highest wave ever surfed...80 feet tall.  Worth googling the video!