It’s a big week here at Casa de Novak. Not only does our new nanny Esther start tomorrow, but Scholasticah and her 2 daughters moved into the quarters on our property, where they’ll be living for the next 2 years. Please allow me to introduce them to you. The 9 year old is named Michelle. She loves to read and is quite outgoing once she’s comfortable.
Evelyn, age 4, is 6 months younger than Nia. She’s a bit quieter in nature and has the most adorable smile.
As you know, we hemmed and hawed a lot over the decision of whether or not to let a family live on the property (especially since we’ve never had live-in help AT ALL). I am pleased to report that I felt this incredible sense of ease during the first 24 hours with them on the property. It just felt so RIGHT and I’ve learned in the last decade to trust that feeling instead of trying to rationally validate my decisions. I’m telling you, these are two of the most respectful and polite girls I’ve ever met. In fact, Ms. Nia could use a few lessons from them in manners!
Speaking of Nia, she came home from school, saw the girls and said, “Hi, I’m Nia. Want to play Ponies?” It was instant friendship and they’ve been playing together non-stop for the last 3 afternoons after Nia gets home from school. She is so obviously delighted to have playmates who live close by and it reminds me a lot of my sisters and I running over to the neighbors to play.
I’m so happy that she’s getting to experience the joy of running around the neighborhood (in this case, our huge fenced-in yard) playing with the “neighbors” from sun up to sun down. Those were some of my favorite memories from my childhood and I’m hopeful that she’ll have many good memories to look back on after this tour.
It’s not without its challenges though, as it’s brought up a whole lot of boundary issues (as expected, but we’ve navigated them well thus far) and questions from Nia (not navigating those quite as well). It’s hard to know what to say when she asks, “If we had been born here, would we be poor too?” and “Why don’t they have a kitchen table like us?” and “Can we have them over for dinner?” It’s super hard to explain boundaries to a 4 year old who simply wants to spend every waking minute with her new friends. I have to hand it to Nia though, she’s been a Rockstar at sharing her toys.
Funny anecdote: When we explained that they would be living in the Quarters, she someone translated that to mean Headquarters (which then got shortened to HQ like in Octonauts). So she’ll say, “Are they eating dinner at HQ right now?” It cracks me up every time.
Feeling grateful tonight that my little girl is so happy. Also feeling thankful that we took this risk and will have a chance to know this wonderful Malawian family so intimately.
