Well, what do you do with a young man like this? The easiest boy ever. No, I'm not kidding. He is.
Stafan's teacher told Mike the other day Stafan and a few boys were talking in class. She said it wasn't anything serious, but she did tell them to stop. After class, she said Stafan came up and apologized and told her it wouldn't happen again. And he meant it.
Then the new school principal told Mike and me that she watches Stafan in the cafeteria. She said he prays every day before he eats. My eyes teared up and then her eyes teared up.
He doesn't get it from me! I start to eat and then . . . oops! Does it still count when the food is half gone? I do keep trying though.
The boy takes his Bible to school every day. Pat Robertson will be on TV praying, and I look over and Stafan will be praying with him.
Meeting Stafan in Guangzhou. I hardly let Mike get near him. I went nuts over him the minute I laid on eyes on him. Still kind of that way.
But Stafan is no Mama's boy. He is a man's man. The first night with Stafan I had him get into my twin bed. He didn't like sleeping with a girl. The next night come bed time, Stafan jumped into bed with his Dad. The rest of the trip he hopped in his Dad's bed.
Meeting Stafan. He was not distressed in the least. What he was was appreciative. For months I got a whole lot of "thank you Mamma."
Still in Guangzhou.
Going back to the orphanage to say goodbye. We were bent over so you could see the pictures above us. Many of the pictures on the display were of our kids that we had previously adopted from the Guangzhou orphanage!
Typical Chinese toilet. I'll never forget the first time I took Stafan to the bathroom in our 5-star hotel room. Of course, we had a nice "western" toilet. Stafan had no clue what to do. I kept trying to get him to bend his knees and sit on the toilet seat. He was stiff as a board. Finally I tried lifting him up over the toilet. His legs stayed stiff and his feet went right into the toilet. I tried a second time. Same thing. Finally I screamed for Mike to come help.
His first dental appointment back home.
First US haircut.
Stafan: "If I don't lap them at least two or three times I'm not trying."
I actually heard him say that the other day. It's true!
Public Toilets in China
Millions of people in China don't have a toilet in their own home. Instead they use chamber pots which are taken to collection centers. Most public toilets have squat-style Asian toilets. Many rural Chinese are unfamiliar with Western toilets. It is not unusual to see footprints on the seat of a Western toilet from where somebody has stood and squatted. As a rule public rest rooms don't have toilet paper (for this reason always carry tissue with you). Toilet paper, or often newspapers, are supposed to be placed in a the wastebasket and not flushed so the plumbing system does get clogged. Many rest rooms are coed, with urinals in the front for men and separate toilets stalls behind closed doors for men and women. Some public toilets are watched over by married couples, with the husband cleaning the men's room and the wife cleaning the women's room. Some have young children that also spend much of their time in the public toilet.
