March Break!

This week went fast!  We had the girls rotating though for much of it.  Since LittleE was born, and my school has gotten increasingly busy, we have said that we can only take them one at a time.  Which doesn't give much of a break to the superwoman who takes care of all four all the time, but maintains a degree of sanity around our place.  MamaM took the most work really, since they have been on March break, but i've still been in school.  Almost 5 years now we've been having these 4 sisters stay with us for weekends or school breaks!!  Taking B. for the weekends is becoming increasingly pleasant as she gets older.  She's now almost 11, and i feel like we should be paying her for all the help she is with LittleE!  He thinks that she's amazing, and looks up at her adoringly every time she walks in.  Watching the two of them together makes me realize why people have more than one kid!  (although i'm not sure about having 10 1/2 years between them at this point!). 
 
 
We went to a lesbian moms meeting on Saturday, and she played with all the babies, and helped translate for people who were unilingual (like us).  Lots of the other moms commented on how "grounded" a kid she is.  I introduced her to the group as our "niece" which she didn't flinch at.  For the rest of the weekend, she just wanted to hang out at home, which was really relaxed, and quite nice.  We watched a movie that wasn't MaryKate and Ashley, and had conversation over dinner with some great women from the church.  As I was driving her home on Sunday night, we talked a lot about Family.  She is still trying to wrap her head around how she and LittleE can be "cousins" (not so hard, since she has lots of aunties that she's not related to), and how MamaM and I can both be LittleE's mothers (somewhat more difficult, and that gets processed via imagined Maury Povitch episodes) .  She has met LittleE's sire T., and is pretty fascinated by him, and by how he can be around so much and still not be a dad. 
 
 I really hope that having us in her world is a strength for her.  I imagine it takes a lot of intercultural savvy to navigate between our house, and all our queerish-goodness, her own house/school, and the kind yet unabashedly fundamentalist church family who have been so good to her and (sometimes) her sisters.  How does a kid reconcile all those good people who (think we) have her best interests at heart, yet who have such widely varied values and worldviews, which are sometimes so very much opposed?  I hope that it gives her wisdom to understand that there is more than one way of being a grown up, and no one way to be right.  She speaks two languages, and is capable of blending in across class and political lines -- which I hope will increase her options, not limit them. I also hope that it doesn't leave her feeling shamed, or closeted in any of the places that care for her - like she can't show her whole self to anyone without being judged. Or that sharing her own opinions would cause anyone to reject her, stop caring for her, or giving her the support that she needs.
 
My heart feels a bit enlarged today.