Ten Thousand Sorrows

This morning Sam and Jude have gone to Summer Scheme in the local leisure centre. Jude wanted to go so badly, but Sam was a bit unsure of it. It's not that he doesn't enjoy it there, but he loves being at home with no restriction on his 'play time'. Tonight they have outdoor archery for 3 hours so he's not going to get much free time today. He doesn't know that yet though.

So Luke is in the living room watching his all time favourite film The Little Shop of Horrors. I'm guessing that he must be one of the few 2 year olds that he seen it, and possibly the only 2 year old addicted to it. I've just ordered the soundtrack for it from amazon, so that we can listen to it in the car (a nice change from either Jo Jingles or the Phantom of the Opera). Luke knows every word to the songs. I had to sit on the sofa with him this morning and sing along with the 3 lady narrators, whilst we both did all the arm movements. Quite often during the day he says "Mummy I'll be Audrey and you be the horrible dentist". He just love the Audrey character. And he finds the dentist (played by Steve Martin) scary but fascinating.

Yesterday Jude and I worked our 14 hour shift at the book fair in Newcastle. Jude was an angel and such a help! The day didn't seem half as long with her there for company. 4 times she walked down to Mauds to buy me a take away cup of tea, and in the evening she found a chip shop and bought us some dinner. She is so much more confident than people realise. I would not have done those things at her age. Then during the day she served most of the customers, charging them, giving them change and packing their purchases into bags. She kept the place tidy and restocked the video boxes. What a great day of work experience for her. I can see her managing a huge company one day!

Whilst Jude was working hard I picked out 3 books to read (also picked out 13 books to take home for our education library). The first two books I read a few pages of and just couldn't get into. The third book was called Ten Thousand Sorrows by Elizabeth Kim. Well, I almost read the entire book while I was there, and I can't wait to get it finished. It's a true story about a child in Korea who was born mixed race and so her and her mother were shunned from society. Her mother is murdered in an honour killing (I'm not giving the plot away, it says this on the back of the book) and the little girl begins her harrowing journey into life as an orphan, and adoption into American society. I found the story fascinating and couldn't put it down. It's the first book I've really enjoyed (and had time to enjoy) for quite some time. It's probably not everyone's cup of tea but with my interest in adoption it really struck a chord with me. The American family who adopted her knew nothing of life in Korea, or the sorrows and suffering she had endured. I've read books about international adoption and the problems that can arise with introducing a child into a world so completely different from everything they have known. It is still in my heart, more than ever, to adopt children from harrowing desperate lives, and offer them love and safety in a warm and caring home. I have no idea how to do it, as the cost is ridiculous. I kind of forgot about the idea, although it keeps poking me in the back of my mind every now and then, and I basically prayed that if this is what I'm meant to do then God would provide the means to achieve it and make it obvious to me. Maybe one day when the kids have grown up this will be the path we will follow.