Some things just don't translate

Maisie has been bugging me for a new Barbie. While she has lots of toys at home, she doesn't have all that many with us in Asia. Still, I don't want to just give her toys all the time so I've been trying to come up with ways for her to earn a few bucks so she can learn the value of money. She gets 50 cents for doing things like clearing the table or making her bed. She finally made $10 total and we went to the toy store. There wasn't anything there she wanted for that price. What a great lesson!

Today? We did a lemonade stand out by the pool. I had visions of Maisie learning how to exchange money for a product, taking the coins, making change and earning money for her Barbie. Within about a minute, I realized not a single soul was going to pay for the stuff. 

You know why? Hardly anybody here knows what a lemonade stand is!!! The Brits and Aussies out by the pool were just plain baffled at why the wacky American woman and her kids were handing out lemonade.  The woman from Finland? She seemed mortified that I was plying children with sugar water. The French woman seemed the most alarmed of all. Nobody really gave me a chance to explain. The British boy in the pic below told me he once tried lemonade at his cousin's house, but he didn't like it. Otherwise, the neighborhood kids were enchanted.

Maisie didn't quite understand that she was supposed to get a coin for every cup of lemonade anyway. What a salesperson she was though! Without a bit of hesitation, she ran up to every single soul who walked by, "Do you want a cup of lemonade?" Then, she'd pour it - sort of - and give it to them. That girl will be good with cold calls some day! I can see fundraising in her future. I'm so glad she's starting school on Monday. She's hankering to play with somebody her own age.

Hudson wanted very little to do with the stand other than trying to eat the lemons. He was enthralled with another kid's scooter. Every kid in Singapore has a scooter and Hudson can already ride one quite well. Wherever we end up, a scooter is a must purchase now.

While the afternoon was all about Maisie, the morning was focused on Hudson. It was my turn to host the playdate with the two-year-olds. I had originally planned to have everybody over to go swimming, but it looked like rain all morning and we don't have backup toys in our apartment. I wimped out and arranged for everybody to go to Polliwogs. Dear God. It's a local school holiday this week so it was packed. 

Afterwards, Suzanne and her son Caden took us to a ramen restaurant. I didn't even know such a thing existed! Suzanne's husband is Japanese so she knew exactly what to order. Maisie gave it all a try. She liked the noodles, fried chicken and even ate the pork bun. Hudson? He was fussy, fussy, fussy - and he never got better. If yesterday was Maisie's tough day, then today was Hudson's. He fussed all afternoon even after they BOTH took a nap in their own beds! 

I was in heaven! Both napping? At home? I finally started working on the outline for a screenplay I want to write. Tee hee! Tonight? I'd hoped to watch part of the convention on youtube, but the Internet has been an absolute nightmare the past couple of days. No convention for me. It's bugging me that I can't watch the conventions here. I'm a news junkie. I love politics. It's funny what makes me homesick!