Lights, Camera, Smile

Last night was special indeed. As I've written in this blog before, we are very honored from time to time to be invited to Embassy functions for some of the many nationalities represented at our school. (Sometimes I have to pinch myself, I really was just plannin' on living in a hut in Mexico somewhere.) This week we were invited by the Ambassador of a Former-USSR-Now-Independent country. He has two little girls attending our school. He told his little girls they could each invite one friend. Guess who they picked?

What a treat! Instead of just watching mom put a string of pearls around her neck and throw on her high heels, two of my little dears got to join me. I picked out their dresses, and I chose very carefully. I was fully aware that Perma-Baby would need something "chiffony" and down to her ankles at least. I put it on her, and she began her flotation through the house. I had dolled them both up, then felt I needed to check on a very quiet Big Ben before I walked out the door. I found him, having finished his mac-n-cheese, sitting on the tray of his high chair, up to his nose and elbows in cheese sauce. Grungy. Gross. All I could say was, "I am so glad I have some girls!"

So, we got on the private bus and were driven to a very nice hotel, at which point, Perma-Baby asked me, "Is this where S___________ (her little friend) lives?!"

Also in attendance were the girls' teachers and their spouses. It didn't take long before my friend's spouse said to me, "Eva acts like she owns the place, she's not nervous at all." Yes, she had walked down the receiving line and shaken the hand of each dignitary and said, "Thank you for inviting me." as I had instructed her. Yes, she dove right in to the appetizers set out on the little tables. There were only four children invited, my two and the Ambassador's daughters, so I expected my girls to show at least a pretense of shyness. But it wasn't until the following happened that I realized how very true his comment was. A group of four men were standing and being interviewed by a television crew. There were cameras and video cameras everywhere! Perma-Baby decided she needed some dessert, so I walked her to the line. The men with the tv camera on them were between her and the food. So, she reached up, tugged on a man's suit coat and said, "Scuse me, can you move out of my way?!" My mouth fell, my eyes bulged. I hissed, "EVA! What did you just SAY?!" She saw my shock and said, "Oh, I mean, 'scuse me please." He stopped his interview, had no idea what she had said (he did not speak English), pinched her fat little cheek and said in another language, "May Allah bless her." My heart started beating again, I got her the dessert. Then she and her buddy plopped down on the floor of the ballroom and dove into the desserts. I thought it was so cute. I came over and said, "Look here, girls, smile for me." I, of course, wanted a picture of her in the poofy dress, eating her dessert, at an Embassy function, with the Ambassador's daughter. This was historic!

And what did she say? She pulled one of those, "My finger is sticky." I said, "We'll wipe it LATER! Now SMILE at me!" On and on we went. She could not get the sticky finger off her mind...that is, UNTIL a camera crew came. Suddenly, she flung her body sideways, threw her head back, and began grinning for that cameraman like she was Zsa Zsa Gabor.

It became an eternal smile as you can see her. Just as long as he was filming, she would smile. And what did I do? I took pictures, with his camera in the corner, just to show you the audacity of the whole thing.

And she got so full of herself, on the way home, she asked if I could carry her into the house. The little miss had grown tired of all the festivities. But I don't think I'll ever grow tired of watching my kids take in life here.