The negotiator

That's S in the foreground!

I wish that I had waited until after dinner to write yesterday's blog. Halfway through dinner the janitor appeared in a colorful poncho and proceeded to play Andean panpipes and serenade the guests. Ordinarily I don't like panpipes because street performers seem to play "El Condor Pasa" continuously. Not the janitor, though. His repetoire seemed limited to Slim Whitman songs, with "Please Release Me" as his show-stopper. L loved it. She was smiling, clapping, and dancing the whole time. I don't know about her taste in music. For a while a few months ago the only way I could get her to sleep was to play the He-Man singing "What's Going On" video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ5LpwO-An4&feature=player_detailpage

Last night we were all exhausted except for the littles. Finally they fell asleep and so did we. But about a half an hour later we heard strange noises. Someone was fiddling with E's phone and glasses. No, it wasn't another hotel break-in.  It was L! She had unzipped and escaped from the pack and play and was running through the room in the dark like a mouse. She played possum then went exploring a couple more times before finally falling asleep.

T did not want to go to skiing lessons this morning. Tears were shed. He was afraid it would be hard. No, because he was going to do the same beginners class as last time. He was afraid it would be cold. No, it would be warm and sunny, and he would be fine if he didn't suck on his collar and mittens. The kid who threw snowballs at him and pushed him would be there. No, that was a different vacation and that kid had gone back where he came from. T still didn't want to go. I told him that Daddy had already paid for the lessons, so it was happening and offered a bribe. No tears or complaints before lessons this week and a bumblebee transformer would be his. He negotiated hard and said that he would also like a Thor hammer and Ironman mask. I suggested he could buy toys with his own money and he quickly backpedaled to just the transformer and mask. It was settled, but he would have to be very very good. However, when E took him over to the lesson meeting point there were tears and trouble. E finally left his phone number and ran over to our lessons without a second to spare. He didn't get a call, but we agreed I would bring T to lessons tomorrow. 

When we picked T up at his lessons, he seemed happy. When the teacher asked who would be back tomorrow he raised both hands. We all went to lunch and T told us about his class. They had played on the merry go round, taken the magic carpet, and played with a parachute. He also mentioned his teacher, Bubba. We didn't think that was right. His teacher is a young Swiss woman. He reconsidered and said she was Barbara.

After lunch T was picked up to go back to the hotel's kids club. But they did not go back right away. The kids from the club, including L, were all there to do some sledding by the kiddie slopes before heading back. L loved it! E and S stayed for some more skiing. R is fighting a bad cold so she and I headed back to the hotel. We had some fun shopping along the way. She found a souvenir (a pretty Swiss quartz crystal) and we got an assortment of Riccola at the Coop. Then she and I relaxed and played computer quizzes and watched Kids Say the Darndest Things on youtube until E and S returned.

The younger kids all ate the kiddie dinner, which worked out well. S babysat while R, E and I went to the regular dinner. (The janitor was there, wearing a green parrot hat and a splattered rainbow colored shirt, projecting family photo slides onto the walls. R and I wondered if we are culturally ignorant or whether that really was a little odd.) We went out to look at the stars. We couldn't see very many more than usual, but they were very bright and it was easy to make out the color of most of them. Then we went upstairs to the room and the littles were fast asleep. S has the magic touch!