76 Days

It's been 76 days since we arrived in Melbourne. I knew when we made the decision to do this that it would be hard. I haven't had a hard life by any stretch, but I have made a lot of hard decisions, like joining the military, moving across country and back and across again, changing careers.. having kids. So, I know that hard really means nothing without context. And, you have no context until you've had the experience. Now I know what hard is in the context of uprooting your family, your young family, and moving them halfway around the world and doing it in less than 5 weeks. Yep, it's hard.

It begins with utter exhaustion from your own jet lag, which is not the same as each of your child's jet lag which is not the same as your husband's jet lag. Then, there's the emotional and physical drain from everyone getting sick in parallel or taking turns, taking many turns. And then the worrying about how you'll take care of your basic needs like getting food when you have no car or finding a permanent place to live when you haven't a clue about... well, about anything. Then there are all of the decisions. Being decisive has never been one of my strong points. I'm tortured with practice around every corner. And, you must educate yourself before you can make a decision. Like--what's a "cap" for your cell mobile phone service? How much bandwidth do we need from our internet service provider? Which neighborhood, which school, which car? Of course, there's the driving--accepting that the wrong side of the road is now the right side. Resistance is futile, to say the least. You must cope with all of this hard with the constant madness of the dangling loose ends back in your former home. And then there's the mourning of all that you took for granted, like your friends and family, having two cars, your husband's flexible work schedule, having to only worry about one time zone in which to get things done.

The hardest of the hard is done now though. Makena and Kessler are in wonderful schools. Makena is treated like a celebrity, both because she's the new kid and because she's so small relative to the rest. They love looking after her. When we're walking across campus kids of all ages are saying, "Hi Makena!". At first she ignored them--assuming they couldn't be talking to her because she didn't know their names. Now she soaks it up--running off to play when a friend greets her at drop off, never looking back at her proud mommy. I feel a little cheated that I didn't get the full run up to her first day of kindergarten prep--but I'm so happy to see her happy.

Kessler loves his school as well. Apparently he's a hit with the little ladies in his class. He and some of his friends will end up in a fit of laughter that's contagious. His teacher says they laugh so hard they can't breathe. Kessler has the sweetest belly laugh. I can just picture him there giggling with his friends; it brings tears to my eyes.

It's amazing how much better things are when you know your kids are good.