Hong Kong Mom

At my Tuesday mom's group, we were asked for ideas to compile a list of "You know you're a mom in Hong Kong when...". I just cut and pasted from a previous blog entry, which mostly worked for this little project. We got to hear the list yesterday and I thought it was cute. I haven't even been a mom in Hong Kong very long, and already I can relate!

You know you're a [expat] mom in Hong Kong when...

~ 'Escalator' and 'Elevator' are among your child's first words

~ you long for even the smallest patch of grass for your kids to run around on!

~ You enjoy grocery delivery

~ People take pictures of your children-with or without asking- or even pick them up without asking to have them in pictures

~ You shop at several grocery stores looking for a precious ingredient for a recipe from home and you are willing to pay triple the price for such items

~ You can't believe you don't put your kids in car seats in a taxi

~ Your son chooses dim sum over McDonalds for breakfast

~ Your son tells you his classmates were asking to trade snacks with him the day he brought dried cuttlefish to school

~ You use your stroller to "part people" as you walk through the crowds

~ You come home with SEVEN colorful bottles of medicine after a visit to the doctor for your child who has a common cold

~ You nod and smile when a local elderly woman scolds you for letting your child play with a stick she considers "dirty" *(actually I have nodded and smiled for all kinds of various scoldings- like how my children aren't dressed warm enough when the temperature is actually in the high teens)

~ Your children run in circles in your living room and/or up and down your hallway on a consistent basis (a result of having no yard...)

~ Your children see hula dancers at a Disneyland performance and say "I sure liked the dance of the Filapina helpers!!"

~ Your children SQUAT on a Western-style toilet to go potty (yes, Annika has learned how to use the "squatty potties" and actually takes great delight in using them)

~ You return for a visit to the States and your children keep asking to play in the park, and it is actually someone's YARD!

~ Your child cringes when you take off her shoes in the grass because she doesn't like the way it feels

~ Your daughter asks to go shopping at the Mong Kok market

~ Your stroller costs as much as a used car

~ the locals like to touch your kids blond hair (golden hair = good luck)

~ Your kids think 700 square feet is a big house

~ You can juggle two kids, a stroller and several grocery bags no problem, you can even haul all of this on a mini bus by yourself... just another day in the life!