On Friday night we spent a spontaneous and wonderful evening with friends from Tokyo in Suelfeld. We had a BBQ (prawns, vegetable scewers, mielies, avo salads, oooh, yummy!) and the kids played so nicely together. They have a daughter, Tamaki, who is Josephine's age and who was also in the same Kindergarten in Japan.
Their garden also has lots of little nooks and crannys with a super exciting pathway leading behind all the shrubbery and bushes around the back and side of the house. Their neighbours across the road are also great animal lovers and have 7 (?) cats, not to mention a litter of kittens too. Also, they apparently keep pet snakes upstairs. Well, guess where these two girls disappeared while we were chatting. We allowed them to stroked the cats who were in the front garden, but little did we know that they were invited upstairs to the snake room. Shiver!! :-)
On our way home, Josephine proudly declared she had stroke a snake and watched its tongue go "in and out; in and out wif a cut in it. And it was slippewy, Mamma and Pappa. And dat snake is only for Big girls, like me and Tamaki."
Well, the snake news sent enough of a chill, let alone that she had been in what is for us, a stranger's house. Our Japanese friends have also only moved in less than a month ago and don't know the neighbours well. So, of course, while the snakes were a creepy discussion, I was more keen to re-teach Josephine not to go off with strangers. Naivety is precious. But being careful is prudent. Oh for judgement. So, she looked at me with big blue eyes as I told her (again) that next time, she's not to go alone into someone's house or car. Ever. She must say "No thank you" and come to us. Or she can come and call Pappa or I and we will go with her to see the snakes or whatever. But she's not to go alone. I think she got the message.
As it turns out, it was a very friendly family indeed, thankfully.
Anyhow, they apparently also saw little new born kittens whose eyes were still closed and Josephine was allowed to hold the snake (and loved it. Yikes, not my genes there...) as well as the kittens. She loved it! urgh!
