Can you say "jerked around"?

Steve here (edited by Terri to maintain PG rating). Okay this isn’t very parent like, but today someone pushed my buttons and I am what you would call—a little pissed. Today we believe were set up for failure. Yesterday, we were to give our passports to the coordinator so we could be at the court bright and early at 9AM to file our papers. This morning Anya called us because the coordinator, Albina, said our customs declaration forms were missing—well of course they were, we were only asked for the passports! That is when the sinking feeling began. We, of course had these forms with us so I asked Anya if we would still be able to go file today. She said she did not know. Is that the ground getting lower beneath my feet? We went to the baby house and had a great visit with the kids. They were in good moods, but I was scolded and told not to let Aidan fall asleep because he won’t sleep at nap time and keeps all the other kids up. Fair enough. We kept the boy awake and played quite heartily. After the visit, we ran into Albina in the hall, who never actually acknowledges us while talking about us (heellloooo, I am right here in front of you). I asked Anya if Albina could enlighten us as to if we could still file our papers today. We only got an “I don’t know” even though it was still only 11:30. Man, we really are sinking now, are we in a swamp?

We went to lunch and had soup. Terri was actually not feeling very well so we hoped a little soup might perk her up. We came back to the apartment so she could rest, not knowing what the afternoon held.

My brief climb back up to solid ground was squashed in the afternoon. When we met the car, Albina was in the front seat—which gave us hope that we were headed to file paperwork. As Albina ignored our presence again, Anya meekly told us we would not be going to file papers today, maybe Monday. When we got to the baby house I had worked up a jaw grinding anger. I think Anya realized we were not happy and told us privately that Albina misplaced some of our papers and Anya was frustrated as she was always the last to know—well, second only to us.

I may not have been so angry except for the fact that the other translator, Lena, who has been assisting with the paperwork and prepping us for court, had mentioned to us yesterday she would do everything she could to help us along more quickly. She is one of the best people here, always trying to keep everyone up to date. Methinks maybe she should be in charge. So to recap; someone I have seen two or three times the entire trip has been unable to get our paperwork in order (the paperwork we have signed promptly and supplied readily all week). So instead of filing to get on the court docket early next week, we now have to wait until Monday to even get an idea of when we can go to court. I am definitely not feeling the love. Is it really too much to ask to have someone put forth a little effort or at least be up front about a situation? Maybe this is the system here but it drives us insane because it is something we have no control over. They’d be out of business in a heartbeat in the USA.

At least the afternoon visit cheered us a bit. My jaw unclenched once I saw Liam in such a cheerful mood for the afternoon. The boys were great and Aidan was having a lot of fun. He was giggling like crazy today. Aidan is a little ham in our group photos now, very different from the early days. The boys already act like brothers as they pull on the preferred toy at the same time (see photo). Liam was walking around with a little help, sticking his tongue out in complete concentration. The time went by so quickly this afternoon and soon we had to leave. On our way out, we were able to snap some photos of the other babies in Liam’s group.

 

We ended the day at the coffee house and had a few good laughs with Anya and Bulat. Bulat is so amusing even when I have no idea what he is talking about. Then it was home to try to figure out what the hell happened today. I think this is going to call for a beer…maybe two. Thanks for listening to my rant. You are making me feel better already.