Thanksgaming Day

 So I spent Thanksgiving with my landlords' grandkids, 6 girls and 2 boys. Left me drained physically, but it was good for my soul. I had some cute little pop dolls that I gave to the girls. Took some pics of them before I gave them out.

Every girl got 2 dolls each. I think they liked them even if they are creepy cute. Then again, Im sure they are used to creepy cute because Ive been giving them fantasy miniatures for the past 2 years. Sometimes I think the figures in my collection are too scary. There are lots of monsters in my room. But the girls seem to like the monsters. Maybe even sympathize with them like I do. I heard one of the girls say the monsters werent really bad and shouldnt be judged by their fangs and claws. Exactly my thoughts!

I love hearing the girls idea of role playing. They use the exact term. But its not rpg-ing in the gaming sense. Its the kids form of pure role playing - like girls playing "tea party".

I remember listening to them play and learned some differences in our upbringing. The girls didnt think ghosts were scary. Well, Kyra the Banshee does look nice in her fancy dress. They considered them as "honored ancestors". They would ask for advice from the honored ancestor. My landlord has a shrine with candles and pictures of their ancestors. Vietnamese hold them sacred. I guess Hindu people do the same, since one of  my "at-home" nurses last year saw the shrine and remarked about ancestor respect.

Now Im not sure if they were talking about bullying at school since I was only half listening at the time. But it did make me worried that some or at least one of the girls was being bullied. I really hope not. In the current climate of anti-Asian violence and prejudice, I fear for these girls. If I ever hear of anything more on it, I am ready to roll out with them and find these bullies and teach them a lesson!

Bella took this figure as her first choice. I really like Bella. She is 9? The first time she entered my room, she looked at all the figures and took her time, then said, "I feel like Im making memories!" What a thing for a little girl to say. Oh and she also said my room was like a museum, with my Waterhouse poster and the other art posters and so many shelves filled with figures. Oh and she likes that I keep my room so clean and that it smells nice. Did I say I like Bella? I like Bella. Oh and she likes witches and Hello Kitty.

Bella's sister is Betty. The last time I saw them was earlier this year at Lunar New Year. Betty tried to give me $20 because I always have a gift for all the kids when they come. Betty is very smart and considerate. And she showed me her artwork on her phone. She was doing still-life in charcoal. And it was not bad for a 13 year old.

Lets see... there is also Chloe and her sister Kelly. Last year, I gave Chloe a dryad and a treeman and she thought of Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy. The dryad had an owl on one its branches and she thought it was cute. I also gave her some gothic ruins.

There is also a 2 and 4 year old, but they hardly come into my room and are always supervised by the older kids. They make sure they dont break anything. But seriously, all the kids even these young ones are so well behaved. Im not worried about them breaking anything. Oh there are 2 older kids I think, but they just peek in my room and dont stay. But my room is filled with kids for... 5 hours whenever they come to visit. I have to spend the next day recuperating after. Its worth it though.

Bella and Kate played Stuffed Fables and here are their characters. Stuffed Fables is a game where the kids played the stuffed animals of a sleeping girl. Protecting their little girl from monsters under the bed. During the game, Bella's Stuffie was hurt and lost stuffing. Kate wanted to go help her cousin and lend her some stuffing. She had to choose help Bella or win the game and save everyone. The difficulty of the choice was written on her face.

I ended up giving Kate the game with all the painted figures. She is a sweet little girl and she wanted to pay me $100 for the game! Of course I didnt take the money. Her dad was willing to pay it. But I told him I wouldnt hear of it. Hearing Kate thank me was worth more than money to me.

Left to Right: Rex, Kate, Bella, Ben

Here are 4 of the little rugrats. Theres another 4 girls that I wasnt able to wrangle for a photo. 

The boys end up playing Memoir '44. Ben is smart and a very good opponent. Rex is young and he ends up being on my team as the official dice roller and he takes his job very seriously. He knows rollling a grenade symbol can kill anything. Rex did say he was going to chop up his sister Kate with a chainsaw. I told him he shouldnt say that even as a joke. His sister is so nice and sweet. He shrugged his shoulders and said of course he was kidding, "Where would I even get a chainsaw!"

Oh and we also played our first game of Dungeons & Dragons. Basic D&D of course. They loved it! They were on their way to town to start their first adventure and the road goes through a forest when suddenly Rex fell into a pit trap. As Orcs arrived to see what their traps caught, Ben used his Ventriloquism spell to distract a bunch of them. Magic Missile'd another and got his cousin out of the trap. Once out, Rex used his crossbow, throwing knife, then his sword to defeat the Orcs. Of course, without my prodding, the boys looted the Orc bodies. Once they got to town, they sold the Orc weapons and armor and bought adventuring gear. Rations, rope, all the essentials... Then they went to the Inn and checked the bulletin board and listened to an old man with a pointy hat for quests. They decided to take the quest to clear out a monster lair nearby. The Caves of the Chaos! Like so many adventurers before them, the kids are discovering the dangers of the Keep on the Borderlands. Of course, my version of D&D is not theater of mind, its all there on the table complete with terrain. The boys loved building the terrain as we played. I would describe where to build a forest or hill and theyd help make it. Its just like Lego, they said, but theres dice. And Rex loves rolling dice!

~~~

So there was my Thanksgaming day...

These kids arent related to me and I only see them 3 or 4 times a year, but I am invested in them. I enjoy seeing them and hearing little bits of their lives. They are born here in America but have Asian parents. Just like me. One foot in the West and another in the East and arguably not really belonging to either. So if I had to point at "my people" I would say it was them, even if ethnically Im not Vietnamese. I dont know how they feel about me, but I think of them as my tribe.

Cheers,

Mar