Custody Battle

We are certainly extremely lucky to have two beautiful and engaging children but I'm finding that fact a little bit of a double edged sword at the moment. The Indians LOVE children full stop. They particularly LOVE blonde, blue eyed children and they therefore love ours.

Wherever we go we are practically besieged by people and everyone wants a little piece of them, sometimes it has its advantages...faster attention and service when you're holding a cute kid, more often it can be a hassle and DD is becoming a bit self concious and wary, which in turn is making her clingy, something she has never really been.

Our caretaker/housekeeper/maid in the apartment is a point in case and I feel I'm in the midst of a custody battle! He is a lovely man, (those of you who have Skyped with us have probably seen him as he is very curious and hovers in the background!) his wife and year old daughter live 2 hours away and he won't see them for another two months. He misses them. He lives here day and night and I realised the other day that he actually sleeps on the kitchen floor, so for these things I can actually forgive him, BUT sometimes, just sometimes I wish he would leave DS alone just for a minute. He actually takes over and interferes with meals, gets him out of his cot in the mornings when he doesn't have to, want to or needs to. He has even taken him from me when we are having a cuddle or a play! His English is minimal so I can't reason with him and I don't want to get upset with him...so, just for the timebeing, because we are not going to be here forever I will try to stay calm and put up with it. On the plus side it does mean DS is always occupied and busy!

Last night I nearly lost it. We took the kids to a hotel that does the best fish n chips that DD has ever had, even better than England apparently. At the next table was probably the most annoying man I have ever met, he was probably even more annoying for the pitcher or three of beer that he and his companion were drinking. He began quite politely by offering his compliments on the children and then quite literally began circling the table "Cootchy Cooing" the children. Constantly. Touching them...errr smelling their hair, all while we are trying to give them their meal. I was tired, emotions got the better of me and tears of pure frustration poured out of me...and do you know what he did?

HE KEPT COOTCHY BLOODY COOING THEM, all the while telling me how BLOODY cute they were, and I'm crying my eyes out and he doesn't even seem to notice!!

We got the bill and left, no dinner for us, and the last thing I heard as we took our leave and the door was closing was a final Cootchy. Cootchy. Coo.
So, that's my rant over! If I'd posted last night it wouldn't have been quite so polite!