One of our greatest concerns regarding bringing Benjamin Godson and Shekina home was our dogs. I have three and my parents have three, and four of those six are 50+ pounds. None of our six dogs are accustomed to children, and two of them are downright nervous around children. Congolese generally don't keep dogs as pets (in a country where many cannot afford to feed themselves, a pet is just another mouth to feed), so many Congolese children are fearful of them...Benjamin Godson and Shekina are no exception. I thought fearful dogs and fearful children were a recipe for disaster, and if you know anything about our dog rescuing habits, you know this would be particularly terrible for us.
Thanks to my mother, however, who once again I will refer to as St. Koko Vickie (because she truly has been a saint with the kids), the kids and the dogs are learning to like each other. She has conducted dog lessons four or five times now in which all they do is basically pet and hand-feed the dogs. The kids are still somewhat fearful, but they are totally enthralled with dogs now, and their fear decreases with each lesson. Now, every single time we see a dog, Benjamin Godson squeals, "Derby!!!" (the name of my mom's beagle). Here are some videos of today's dog lessons:
Part one:
Part two:
Part three:
After our dog lessons, we watched a phonics cartoon and ate popcorn while laying on a comforter on my parents' floor. Benjamin Godson absolutely LOVED laying on the down comforter. In his previous life, he spent a lot of time crawling around on concrete (his poor knees and legs are so rough as a result). Maybe he appreciates squishy, comfy things because of that.
Can you believe how smiley and happy he is this days? After almost a year of receiving somber, sad pictures of him, we can hardly believe our eyes.
Hope everyone is well. I'm off to watch more Phonics Land!
Anna
