I have some amazing girls! We got Bret when she was 4 1/2 y.o. so I've known for a long time she was amazing. We only got Remi in 2010 though. She has been easy from the start, and we've only had a few bumps along the way. Like the time I threw her in the garage for throwing a fit. We had only had her home for a week and when I'm mad at the kids I don't always come across as gentle. I guess that is why my friends tell their kids they'll send them to live with me when they are bad... say what?!?! Seriously, I've had at least 3 friends say that to me! Anyway, I knew Remi had been abused. She had been beaten down REALLY bad. It showed in her looks and her mannerisms. She didn't have near enough to eat, and had been called terrible names by her foster parents daily. What few clothes she had were dirty, because of lack of water in their home. She said one time her teacher was mad at her for doing the best on a test and he nearly twisted her ear off. She still can feel the scar. I know it is hard to understand all this if you're not in the "adoption world" but orphans in China are not treated like everyone else by a lot of people. So, I knew Remi was going into protective mode when I told her to do a time out in the dining room (with Arden translating). Still she wasn't going to bristle up like a dog ready to bite me, or throw things across the room. That is what she did though. With Arden translating I told Remi, "Fine, you're going into the garage if you're going to throw things." She screamed for hours! She screamed loud, she screamed hard, and she screamed for such a long time that she burst blood vessels in her nose. She did finally apologize, cleaned up the blood and took a shower to get rid of the sweaty bloody mess. We've pretty much understood one another every since. Remi now just smiles and laughs about it.
Remi has turned into the perfect daughter. She doesn't talk back, helps whenever I ask and works hard on her grades.
She and Mike go to the gym a lot together. She enjoys pushing him into a harder workout and can get very competitive with him. : - ) Last night she told Mike something that surprised us both. (I did ask her permission to post this) She told him that she decided to not hang out with the popular crowd anymore. She said they swear a lot and do things she knows she isn't suppose to.
Wow, Remi! You're amazing. She isn't my first kids who have told us they would rather do what pleases God than be popular at school. What's even cooler, they made the decision on their own without us even bringing it up.
Again, we didn't get Remi until 2010. Did I mention she is amazing? : - )
