Every time I go to visit 11-year old Daniil for an English lesson I count my blessings*.
He lives, with his parents and grandparents on the top floor of a 5-story block of flats. He and his parents live and sleep in one room of the flat and grandparents have the other. They all share kitchen and bathroom.
Daniil has just had a baby sister. I saw her yesterday - how lovely she is, and so tiny.
So now their living/sleeping room has a double divan for the parents, a single bed settee for Daniil and a cot for Darya. Plus the TV and computer and the odd cupboard. There is not much pacing up and down to be done in that room and certainly no room to swing a cat*.
When I went for my lesson mum decided to take baby Darya for some fresh air (to get them both out of the way). Mum carries the baby downstairs and Daniil, hero that he is, carried the pram wheels down 5 flights of stairs, came back up, carried the pram base down and then came back up for his lesson. Not a murmur of complaint. Of course, when mum gets back, she will phone Daniil and the whole operation will be carried out in reverse. I can't lavish enough praise and I am always humbled by how well they cope with life.
I sometimes come away from there feeling guilty at my own circumstances. By comparison I live in a mansion.
He lives, with his parents and grandparents on the top floor of a 5-story block of flats. He and his parents live and sleep in one room of the flat and grandparents have the other. They all share kitchen and bathroom.
Daniil has just had a baby sister. I saw her yesterday - how lovely she is, and so tiny.
So now their living/sleeping room has a double divan for the parents, a single bed settee for Daniil and a cot for Darya. Plus the TV and computer and the odd cupboard. There is not much pacing up and down to be done in that room and certainly no room to swing a cat*.
When I went for my lesson mum decided to take baby Darya for some fresh air (to get them both out of the way). Mum carries the baby downstairs and Daniil, hero that he is, carried the pram wheels down 5 flights of stairs, came back up, carried the pram base down and then came back up for his lesson. Not a murmur of complaint. Of course, when mum gets back, she will phone Daniil and the whole operation will be carried out in reverse. I can't lavish enough praise and I am always humbled by how well they cope with life.
I sometimes come away from there feeling guilty at my own circumstances. By comparison I live in a mansion.
count one's blessings
be grateful for what one has:when you find that many people are worse off than you are, you’ll learn to count your blessings
no (or not) room to swing a cat
humorous used in reference to a very confined space:there’s not even room to swing a cat!
[cat in the sense 'cat-o'-nine-tails']
Yes, many kind people live in strained circumstances. Maybe that's why they're so kind. The boy is brought up very well!!
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