Midweek Review

We're tired. Everyone finally seems to really be adjusting back to local time, but mornings and evenings are still not the most pleasant times in our house.

Nathan's first day of first grade went very well. His teacher is apparently "the nicest teacher ever and she really helps us with our work". Day 2 (also Hannah's first day) was great as well and Day 3, in progress. This morning I tried just dropping him off in front of the school rather than walking him in and he was a little confused by that new part of the process, but we'll find out in just a little while how he felt about that. Hannah's first full day also went very well. We've made the decision to allow her only to go Tuesdays and Thursdays full day, although most of the kids in her class go full day every day and this morning she proved us correct. She was very slow moving this morning (my first morning without Daddy's help) and then became very whiny, and clingy when it came time to drop her off. She was fine when I picked her up, but we have already had an altercation this afternoon. Regression is so much fun. Why oh why has she forgotten everything we've worked so hard on over these last few months? What happened to the rational person she was becoming? As I said, we're tired and we, includes me so I'm not handling this well. We've had better moments.

Sarah has also had better weeks. She has not been sleeping well and during the day has not been altogether pleasant either. The moment we arrived back in Belgium things started running. Her nose and her bottom to put it nicely. She has a miserable diaper rash. Teething? Allergic to dust mites? (This suggestion came from our pediatrician today regarding the runny nose she has had about 80% of her life). It is impossible to know what is causing all of this misery, but she has put in some hard time this week and is due for relief! She and I went to her first morning of "preschool" on Tuesday. She will be going to this little "school" on Tuesday mornings and hopefully learn some better social skills. This week I was there to help get her settled in and she liked the school--meaning the actual place with toys and activities and teachers that sing to them with puppets. As for the other children and sharing with those other children, she didn't like that so much. She cried every time another child even approached "her" spot/toy. She also was more aggressive than I've ever seen her. Well, she has been frequently biting her sister as of late, but who can blame her for that? JUST KIDDING. Can you tell I'm more than a little frustrated with one of my children today?

Anyway, hopefully Sarah will not become the class bully or be banished for being such, and learn something about sharing with her peers in the process. The sharing thing, I know that will come with time. That isn't what her "school" is really about anyway. It is about 2 hours a week for ME, sans enfants, so we'll just call it what it is...the Belgian version of Mother's Day Out. Technically not a day, but at this point I'll take what I can get.

Since this has sounded so incredibly negative, I'll add that the first day of swimming lessons yesterday was brilliant. They both have gained so much confidence and are really doing well. I was impressed by the little I got to see. I had to monitor my violent daughter and another toddler "playing" with the rubber duckies in the waiting room. She did not back down at all to this child. Always fun, especially when the other mom only speaks French. Nathan told me later than he could hear Sarah screaming from inside the swimming pool. Lovely.

Along with school and all that comes with it, we are quickly filling up our calendars. The kids (and Coach Daddy) begin soccer this weekend. We will be investigating Cub Scouts next week and ballet in a few weeks. Anyone who knows me, knows that a full schedule is a source of stress for me, but I'm feeling okay so far. I won't be taking an official French class this fall. I'm not giving up, but just going to work on my own on the computer for a while. I'll be hosting a Bible study here this fall. Otherwise I'd have to attend via teleconference because our Daddy will be traveling some every week for the next month. This week he is home, which is nice, but next week will entail learning a whole new "Daddyless" routine. Bedtime is becoming particularly challenging, but we'll figure it out.

It has been interesting to me how much more like home Belgium feels when we are back in school and back into a routine. It is hard not to feel like we have been on holiday for the last 16 months at times, but this week there have been moments where I have said, "Oh yeah, like it was last year" and that makes it feel more familiar and like home for some reason. After slipping so easily back into life in the US just for 17 days, I really thought coming back here would be like starting all over again. There are some things that I still struggle with, of course. For instance, at the moment our landlord and his family have moved outside the "circle of trust". We received a letter regarding a tax refund in our name due to the 3 children living here. The letter states that the refund was given to our landlord, but we are also due a discount in our rent. Of course the letter is in French, but we translated it ourselves and also had our representative from Daddy's work translate it. (She had never heard of such a thing, but suggested we have 10 children and then maybe we wouldn't have to pay rent at all). When we gave a copy to the landlord's son, he called and said the letter for was for his parents and not for us (it was clearly addressed to us and had our names on it). "In English, it is regarding the tax refund". Therefore, circle of trust is here, landlord and family--outside of that circle.

The space outside of that circle is getting crowded as our water delivery people have told me since last Thursday that our water bottles will "be for tomorrow". We are getting thirsty.

Ah well, such is life. All in all, things really are going well. It is nice to be busy again and catch up with last year's friends and make new ones. Lots of faces are missing and lots of new ones have appeared. The good and bad of expat life. But we are busy and the kids are happy (though tired) in school.

I've just got a few more minutes of peace (thanks to a much needed nap I forced Hannah into) and then it is time to pick up our new first grader. He's so cute in his little uniform. These are the pictures of their first days. So far it has been a good week, but we are exhausted. In between school functions, soccer and church this weekend we'll have to make some time to rest before we do it all again, sans papa, next week. Time to go.