I promised I'd write again about the food, so there we go!
I love Swiss food. My figure hates Swiss food. I went thinking I might shed a few pounds as I knew there would be copious amounts of walking (which there was). I was mistaken. I failed to factor in the cuisine that I would be enjoying while visiting the Land of Chocolate and Cheese and managed to come home with a "Swiss inch" added to my waistline. It's all good ... I'm on it, but oh MAN ... the food is KILLA!
My first food experience in Switzerland involved regular groceries, so let's start there. Naturally, the prices were higher than I'm used to, but I expected as much. The grocery stores there are pretty similar to ours here, except for a few things:
Eggs - They're on the shelf! They don't store their eggs in cold storage there. And they come in packages of 10, not by the dozen like ours.
Milk - Ok ... wt..?! There was some milk in cold storage, but it seemed that the standard was the milk stored on the SHELF. On the shelf?! It just doesn't seem right. I'm a serious dairy lover, so for me, that was mildly traumatizing.
Pancake Mix - This can be tricky to find.
Oraginc = "Bio" ... if you want the 'good stuff', look for "bio" on the label and be prepared for about the same rate of inflation on the price, if not more.
Water - Beware the carbonated water! The packaging looks like everything else and it's in greater abundance, it seems, than the regular water. I discovered the prevalence of "gasse" in the "wasser" the hard way. I bought a 6-pack of what I assumed was harmless, bottled water as I know and love it. My heart dropped, however, when I cracked it open and heard the spritz escape. My face contorted when I took that first ice cold gulp (which I had been anticipating before; dreading at this point) and BAM! Sharp, spikey little fizz bubbles stabbing into the soft, thirsty flesh in the back of my throat leaving a HORRIBLE off-kilter taste that left me feeling very disappointed. Be sure to look for/order water with "no gas".
Bacon = Good luck with that. It's not the same as it is here. It's just not.
Mayonnaise & Ketchup = Came in a tube. I swear it looked like space food. The packaging is actually a great idea because it's much easier to get it all out, but as an American with no experience outside my own country, where mayo comes in upside-down bottles. Which now that I think about it, is much stranger than tubes.
So the grocery stores were pretty interesting. There are two big ones there - Migros and CoOp. It's like comparing Kroger to HEB, I guess. Except that I never found the "crunchy section". They don't really have those there.
In Zurich, we ate at a couple of different places. I discovered quickly that my favorite Swiss dish is something called "rosti". It's basically a big salad plate sized hash brown covered in perfectly melty cheeses and various other toppings. I had it twice. Once was what seemed like a handmade hash brown covered in bacon and cheese. The second one was at a smaller cafe-type place and the hash brown seemed pre-made (possibly frozen at one point) but also had delicious cheeses melted on it over fat slices of tomato. They were both delicious - but I preferred the hand-made one.
One day we went to Lucerne and happened upon a WONDERFUL little kiosk (Dock 14) where they had a local beer, Eichof, that was DELISH! They were the most reasonably priced foods I'd come across since visiting Switzerland, so I was excited to see what they had to offer. And they came through! Hot dogs for the girls and a tasty little Greek salad for me. They also had a yummy fruit soda for the girls and of course, I enjoyed that Swiss craft beer.
You can't go to Switzerland without having fondue! My ex and his wife took us all to dinner one evening at a fondue restaurant in Zurich and it was quite an experience. I love fondue, but I have to say - it's important to eat lots of produce either before or after that meal as it has a way of really slowing down certain processes. That shizz is HEAVY in the guts! I totally plan on eating that again some day though ... fo' sho'.
Beverages were interesting. Apple soda seems to be a "thing" there - perhaps somewhat like what apple ales are here, but alcohol free. Nothing is served with ice unless you ask for it. Water is not complimentary. You have to pay for water and in restaurants, it was typically served chilled in a glass bottle ... "mineral water". That was crazy! You couldn't just get a glass of ice water from the "tap". I saw breath-taking spring waterfalls pouring forth from the mountains and I'm looking at them thinking, "can't y'all just tap that stuff right there and BAGOOSH ... free water?!"
Vending machines were also a trip. They were at all the train stations and most of them were all the same. The first or second day I was there, I noticed one drink that was in an orange container and stuck out from all the others - but more so for the big, green pot leaf on it than for the obnoxious color. I was like, "no way"! Cannibis tea. No shizzle. I had to buy it. I put my 2.5CHF in the machine and voila! It even had a label I could read! Who knew?! Black tea, lemon flavoring and hemp flavoring. Of course. It tasted like Lipton with Lemon and didn't mellow me out at all. What a let down. :( However, it was still entertaining to see the birth control test on the shelf above the tea, flanked by a pack of cheap cigarettes and some jerky treats referred to simply as "Party Sticks". You can find all kinds of crazy things in a Swiss vending machine!
And of course, last but not least, was the CHOCOLATE! Ermagerd the chocolate. We found the Sprungli shop down in the Zurich train station tunnels that was like stepping into Wonka's pretty little gift shop. They have these French macarons, Luxemburgerli, that we just couldn't get enough of. I had them three times during my visit, but the most eaten in a sitting was like 5 or 6 of these things one night when we had my middle daughter's going home dinner. It was the night before we left and my ex brought home a huge box full of them that we passed around and around the table, each time each person taking just one out. He got a little bit of everything ... and they were ALL divine! My oldest is working to perfect making these (which is REALLY HARD) and I can't wait for her to figure it out because they're EXPENSIVE to buy! But so worth every single rappen.
So that's my food experience in a nutshell, so to speak. I am a huge fan of Swiss food and loved the challenge of figuring out/discovering the grocery stores. I'm a bit of a grocery store geek and I guess I've been a mom for so long, there's something about the prospect of exploring a new grocery store that is incredibly entertaining for me. I don't know ... call me crazy. Everyone else does.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Little Boxes on a Hillside ...
I always think of that song when I reflect on my visit to Switzerland.
So it's the post you've all been waiting for, I know. There are so many funny things I noticed when I was in Switzerland, I'm honestly not sure where to start. So I guess I'll do my best to do this in order.
I arrived at the airport around mid-day and my ex-husband and oldest daughter met me and my youngest there. We took our luggage to the car and I noticed immediately when entering the parking garage that I seemed to have fallen into the pages of a certain Jonathan Swift novel. I could have sworn that there must have been a sticker on the chassis of every single car that said, "Made in Lilliput". There were no trucks at all and very few "family" vehicles. It was mostly SmartCars and small sporty looking rigs. I was tempted to try to pull one backwards just to see if it would shoot forward - like a toy. It was fascinating! I never thought of my own car as a land yacht (Dodge Charger) but it turns out, I'm driving a gigantic whale of a car by European standards.
Next came the roads. Upon leaving the airport, things were pretty standard. Turns out only the English drive on the wrong side of the road, but the color-coding with the stripes is different there. I felt like we were going the wrong way on a one way road at first. That was a little stressful ... or so I thought. Once we got to the village my ex and his family lived in, my hands were gripping my seat for dear life. Not only because my ex-husband drives like he's on fire, but because the roads are SO SMALL. Now I tried to keep in mind that I was in a physics defying machine that from the outside looked incredibly small, but from the inside seemed to be quite adequate, but we're talking glorified sidewalks here. In fact, people commonly part their cars halfway on the sidewalk. There are SIGNS showing people how to park with a wheel up on the sidewalk! I'm thinking, as small as the roads were, SCREW THE SIDEWALK ... just get your go-cart out of the street, kids! That was kind of cool yet scary.
When I arrived at their house, I was expecting this mansion. The girls always talked about how they lived on the "third floor". Turns out, the house they lived in - which was a pretty standard type of house in that area - is built straight up and down. Now don't get me wrong - it's still a big house considering the world I have entered into. I am still on the watch for members of the Lollipop Guild. Everything in Switzerland seems smaller than average. But then again, I'm a greedy American with a giant car, so my perception is clearly off. There are in total, FOUR floors. Starting from the bottom, there is a basement made up of the laundry room, a wine cellar and a storage room - all pretty small. The second, or Main Floor, is where you enter the house and it consists of a foyer, the kitchen, the dining room and the living room - again all pretty modest in size. The third floor is the family bedrooms, of which there were three as well as a shared bathroom in the hallway. Finally the top floor, or Attic, has another bedroom (now my oldest daughter's), a bathroom and a common area where there are two spare beds - used by my middle daughter and the au pair (or whatever guests might come visit). The home accommodates several people, but only if those people are capable of climbing copious amounts of stairs.
Appliances. Now I need to preface this a little late by saying that this is the ONLY house I was in while visiting Switzerland, so this could be a singular experience, but I doubt it. I would love feedback from someone else who's been there to add to this. However, knowing my ex-husband and the fact that he was also raised in Texas where everything is bigger, I would think that if larger models were available, he'd have opted for those. All of their appliances are small. SHOCKER! I know ... at this point you totally didn't see that coming, right? The fridge is not much bigger than the one we keep our beer in. There are 5, now 6, people in that family and they have to work out of a fridge with no ice maker and very limited space. I realized quickly that they grocery shop regularly and I also noticed that they don't eat a whole lot of fresh produce. When I go grocery shopping here in the States, I load up. My veggie drawer alone gets filled to capacity not counting the mushrooms, tomatoes, and usually romaine lettuce that doesn't make it into the crisper drawer until about 3 days later (if it's not already been consumed). This can't happen there. It's the same with the washer and dryer. I had to wash clothes while I was there and was baffled at how my ex's wife stays on top of the laundry. I swear that poor woman has to do twice as many loads as I do because you can only fit like two pairs of jeans, three shirts and a pair and a half of socks in there. Gotta do sheets? Hope you have all day because you can only wash about a sheet and a pillow case in there at one time. Maybe a washrag if you're feeling brave. Now they did have a trunk freezer in the storage room, as well as another cupboard, so that's where they stashed most of their extra food, but I'm still trying to work out the produce situation. Good thing there's a store right up the road from their house.
The last thing that I noticed quickly upon arriving in Switzerland (really Europe in general) is the money. They love their coins. After less than 24 hours in the country, I sound like Captain Jack Sparrow himself after a successful heist. I can't even tell you how many times I sat down to use the facilities only to watch as my financial resources spilled forth from my pockets, clinking and clanking all around my feet. They don't give you "notes" until you get up to 10CHF. That was discouraging as I rarely had that much at one time in my pocket. The only thing BIG about Switzerland is the price tags on stuff. So I quickly broke the 50s, 20s and 10s that I managed to scare up. Those went quick. Then I was left with 3 pounds of change that I would later put into a vending machine for a drink I didn't really want that much, just to speed up my gait so I could get up the hill from the train station.
Aaaah ... the trains. I'll save that for another post ... ;-)
So it's the post you've all been waiting for, I know. There are so many funny things I noticed when I was in Switzerland, I'm honestly not sure where to start. So I guess I'll do my best to do this in order.
I arrived at the airport around mid-day and my ex-husband and oldest daughter met me and my youngest there. We took our luggage to the car and I noticed immediately when entering the parking garage that I seemed to have fallen into the pages of a certain Jonathan Swift novel. I could have sworn that there must have been a sticker on the chassis of every single car that said, "Made in Lilliput". There were no trucks at all and very few "family" vehicles. It was mostly SmartCars and small sporty looking rigs. I was tempted to try to pull one backwards just to see if it would shoot forward - like a toy. It was fascinating! I never thought of my own car as a land yacht (Dodge Charger) but it turns out, I'm driving a gigantic whale of a car by European standards.
Next came the roads. Upon leaving the airport, things were pretty standard. Turns out only the English drive on the wrong side of the road, but the color-coding with the stripes is different there. I felt like we were going the wrong way on a one way road at first. That was a little stressful ... or so I thought. Once we got to the village my ex and his family lived in, my hands were gripping my seat for dear life. Not only because my ex-husband drives like he's on fire, but because the roads are SO SMALL. Now I tried to keep in mind that I was in a physics defying machine that from the outside looked incredibly small, but from the inside seemed to be quite adequate, but we're talking glorified sidewalks here. In fact, people commonly part their cars halfway on the sidewalk. There are SIGNS showing people how to park with a wheel up on the sidewalk! I'm thinking, as small as the roads were, SCREW THE SIDEWALK ... just get your go-cart out of the street, kids! That was kind of cool yet scary.
When I arrived at their house, I was expecting this mansion. The girls always talked about how they lived on the "third floor". Turns out, the house they lived in - which was a pretty standard type of house in that area - is built straight up and down. Now don't get me wrong - it's still a big house considering the world I have entered into. I am still on the watch for members of the Lollipop Guild. Everything in Switzerland seems smaller than average. But then again, I'm a greedy American with a giant car, so my perception is clearly off. There are in total, FOUR floors. Starting from the bottom, there is a basement made up of the laundry room, a wine cellar and a storage room - all pretty small. The second, or Main Floor, is where you enter the house and it consists of a foyer, the kitchen, the dining room and the living room - again all pretty modest in size. The third floor is the family bedrooms, of which there were three as well as a shared bathroom in the hallway. Finally the top floor, or Attic, has another bedroom (now my oldest daughter's), a bathroom and a common area where there are two spare beds - used by my middle daughter and the au pair (or whatever guests might come visit). The home accommodates several people, but only if those people are capable of climbing copious amounts of stairs.
Appliances. Now I need to preface this a little late by saying that this is the ONLY house I was in while visiting Switzerland, so this could be a singular experience, but I doubt it. I would love feedback from someone else who's been there to add to this. However, knowing my ex-husband and the fact that he was also raised in Texas where everything is bigger, I would think that if larger models were available, he'd have opted for those. All of their appliances are small. SHOCKER! I know ... at this point you totally didn't see that coming, right? The fridge is not much bigger than the one we keep our beer in. There are 5, now 6, people in that family and they have to work out of a fridge with no ice maker and very limited space. I realized quickly that they grocery shop regularly and I also noticed that they don't eat a whole lot of fresh produce. When I go grocery shopping here in the States, I load up. My veggie drawer alone gets filled to capacity not counting the mushrooms, tomatoes, and usually romaine lettuce that doesn't make it into the crisper drawer until about 3 days later (if it's not already been consumed). This can't happen there. It's the same with the washer and dryer. I had to wash clothes while I was there and was baffled at how my ex's wife stays on top of the laundry. I swear that poor woman has to do twice as many loads as I do because you can only fit like two pairs of jeans, three shirts and a pair and a half of socks in there. Gotta do sheets? Hope you have all day because you can only wash about a sheet and a pillow case in there at one time. Maybe a washrag if you're feeling brave. Now they did have a trunk freezer in the storage room, as well as another cupboard, so that's where they stashed most of their extra food, but I'm still trying to work out the produce situation. Good thing there's a store right up the road from their house.
The last thing that I noticed quickly upon arriving in Switzerland (really Europe in general) is the money. They love their coins. After less than 24 hours in the country, I sound like Captain Jack Sparrow himself after a successful heist. I can't even tell you how many times I sat down to use the facilities only to watch as my financial resources spilled forth from my pockets, clinking and clanking all around my feet. They don't give you "notes" until you get up to 10CHF. That was discouraging as I rarely had that much at one time in my pocket. The only thing BIG about Switzerland is the price tags on stuff. So I quickly broke the 50s, 20s and 10s that I managed to scare up. Those went quick. Then I was left with 3 pounds of change that I would later put into a vending machine for a drink I didn't really want that much, just to speed up my gait so I could get up the hill from the train station.
Aaaah ... the trains. I'll save that for another post ... ;-)
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Family is Everything
As many of you know, I recently went to Switzerland to help Goo get adjusted and settled into her new life there with her dad and step-mom. I don't even know where to start with how this trip influenced me. It wasn't just a vacation - it was an experience. I went there expecting to just see how she was going to live and help her set up her room. It was so much more than that!
First of all, the only reason I was able to do this is because my ex-husband and his wife invited me to stay in their home for two weeks. That alone is pretty mind-blowing when you think about it. Not many divorced parents are willing or able to do that kind of thing for their kids. Everyone has a different situation, so I'm very aware of how rare that kind of thing is. I'm extremely grateful and infinitely appreciative of the fact that they were generous enough to do that, if not for me, but for Goo and her sisters.
I got there expecting to stay under the radar ... not "get in the way too much". I wasn't sure how the dynamic in the house would be, so I was planning on staying up in Goo's part of the house and just make the most of my time with her and the girls. As a group, we've been around each other a few times, but never long term like this. I didn't know what they were expecting of me and wasn't sure how their kids would respond to me being there. I was happy to discover that it felt oddly relaxed and dare I say comfortable?! It's like it's weird that it wasn't more weird. Is that weird? We were like one big team, watching after the kids and keeping the house in order (6 kids ranging in age from 2 to 14 is a lot in one traditional-style Swiss home). I got to know the au pair they hire every summer that the girls always rave about when they come home. She was everything the girls said she was. Extremely sweet, cutest French accent you've ever heard and truly awesome with the kids.
I've always maintained a friendship with my ex because he's a good man and a loving father. But after staying there this summer, I was able to get to know his wife in a whole new way and that was extremely healing for me. She's gone above and beyond to prove to me (not that I was expecting her to go beyond just being nice to them when they're with her) that she genuinely cares for them - enough so she's willing to open her home up to her husband's previous wife! That's big to me. And while I was there, she not only was polite, but we actually had some good "mom" conversations about what it's going to be like with Goo there and keeping up with her school functions. It was fun getting to know her and it made me feel good to feel that she seemed more interested in my emotional well-being than I had assumed she was. I can honestly say that I feel like we're friends after this and my mind is very at ease knowing that she's doing the "mom stuff" for Goo in my absence.
I had a blast with their kids. They're little and cute and fun and I enjoyed playing with them. Listening to them speak in various languages within a matter of minutes was pretty entertaining as well! I have to admit, I don't miss that phase of life when it comes to the crying and the diapers and the "getting into everything". But looking at those sweet faces - faces that I can see in my own children - made me feel very comfortable. Now that I look back, ironically, I think their similarities to Goo and Baloo helped me relax around them and I was able to enjoy playing and laughing with them - which I need to do if I'm going to be able to chill and enjoy myself around someone else's kids.
I think that was probably the most significant thing I got out of this trip. I feel like I can honestly say that my children likely don't feel the separation in their family the way a lot of kids do. Roo got to enjoy playing with everyone - it was like she inherited cousins that she can now look forward to seeing and playing with in the future. It was a win for all the kids. My two older girls have a big, spread out family that spans the Western world and when we're geographically near each other, we can enjoy each other's company. How awesome is that?!
Of all the things I saw and did in Switzerland, I have to say that I didn't anticipate the healing, mending experience that it turned out to be. I hope that it's not the last time we all get together and share time like that. If it is, I have some wonderful memories and I'm pretty sure the kids did, too. More on the funny parts of my time in Switzerland to come ... but I had to start with the deep thoughts. They were too important to hold back on.
Family is everything people. And there's no one "layout" ...
First of all, the only reason I was able to do this is because my ex-husband and his wife invited me to stay in their home for two weeks. That alone is pretty mind-blowing when you think about it. Not many divorced parents are willing or able to do that kind of thing for their kids. Everyone has a different situation, so I'm very aware of how rare that kind of thing is. I'm extremely grateful and infinitely appreciative of the fact that they were generous enough to do that, if not for me, but for Goo and her sisters.
I got there expecting to stay under the radar ... not "get in the way too much". I wasn't sure how the dynamic in the house would be, so I was planning on staying up in Goo's part of the house and just make the most of my time with her and the girls. As a group, we've been around each other a few times, but never long term like this. I didn't know what they were expecting of me and wasn't sure how their kids would respond to me being there. I was happy to discover that it felt oddly relaxed and dare I say comfortable?! It's like it's weird that it wasn't more weird. Is that weird? We were like one big team, watching after the kids and keeping the house in order (6 kids ranging in age from 2 to 14 is a lot in one traditional-style Swiss home). I got to know the au pair they hire every summer that the girls always rave about when they come home. She was everything the girls said she was. Extremely sweet, cutest French accent you've ever heard and truly awesome with the kids.
I've always maintained a friendship with my ex because he's a good man and a loving father. But after staying there this summer, I was able to get to know his wife in a whole new way and that was extremely healing for me. She's gone above and beyond to prove to me (not that I was expecting her to go beyond just being nice to them when they're with her) that she genuinely cares for them - enough so she's willing to open her home up to her husband's previous wife! That's big to me. And while I was there, she not only was polite, but we actually had some good "mom" conversations about what it's going to be like with Goo there and keeping up with her school functions. It was fun getting to know her and it made me feel good to feel that she seemed more interested in my emotional well-being than I had assumed she was. I can honestly say that I feel like we're friends after this and my mind is very at ease knowing that she's doing the "mom stuff" for Goo in my absence.
I had a blast with their kids. They're little and cute and fun and I enjoyed playing with them. Listening to them speak in various languages within a matter of minutes was pretty entertaining as well! I have to admit, I don't miss that phase of life when it comes to the crying and the diapers and the "getting into everything". But looking at those sweet faces - faces that I can see in my own children - made me feel very comfortable. Now that I look back, ironically, I think their similarities to Goo and Baloo helped me relax around them and I was able to enjoy playing and laughing with them - which I need to do if I'm going to be able to chill and enjoy myself around someone else's kids.
I think that was probably the most significant thing I got out of this trip. I feel like I can honestly say that my children likely don't feel the separation in their family the way a lot of kids do. Roo got to enjoy playing with everyone - it was like she inherited cousins that she can now look forward to seeing and playing with in the future. It was a win for all the kids. My two older girls have a big, spread out family that spans the Western world and when we're geographically near each other, we can enjoy each other's company. How awesome is that?!
Of all the things I saw and did in Switzerland, I have to say that I didn't anticipate the healing, mending experience that it turned out to be. I hope that it's not the last time we all get together and share time like that. If it is, I have some wonderful memories and I'm pretty sure the kids did, too. More on the funny parts of my time in Switzerland to come ... but I had to start with the deep thoughts. They were too important to hold back on.
Family is everything people. And there's no one "layout" ...
Friday, August 1, 2014
What's My Motivation?
The reason I'm starting this blog up again is basically because my posts on Facebook are just getting to be too damn long. I have too much to say. There is too much going on up in this little melon of mine and for some reason, it makes me feel better to share. And for some reason, a few of you seem to enjoy reading my rambles, so I figure this is kind of a win/win situation ... right? Right.
So let's get to it. Why so much going on? It's simple. At the tender age of 14, my oldest daughter is moving away. It's basically ripping my heart out, but at the same time, the whole point of being a mother (in my opinion) is to raise your children to be the very best versions of themselves that they can possibly be. I'm learning that sometimes, that means we have to let them fly away to chase after their dreams and seize the opportunities that life throws at them. In our case, my baby girl Goo is moving to Switzerland to attend school at an international school. And before you gasp in horror at the thought of me "sending her away to a boarding school in Switzerland" (I always hear Joanna Barnes hissing that line from The Parent Trap when I say that), hear me out. Her father lives there with his wife and their children. He told her years ago that if she wanted to go to school there, he'd make it happen for her. The choice was and always has been completely hers to make. She's gone through an emotional roller coaster that would shame most teenagers' most insane rides, but she's assured me that she's not looking back and knows this is right for her.
So the time has come. The clock is striking midnight and it's time to leave the tea party. Her sisters and I are going to keep the light on for here down in Texas for when she comes home to visit. I wrote a Facebook post a while back that pretty much sums up what I'm trying to write here, so I'm going to do to ol' Copy/Paste thing and share it below. Originally posted on my Facebook page on June 19th, 2014.
I want to share my perspective on the upcoming move that my oldest is about to embark on. I have gotten some very sweet texts, messages and phone calls regarding my emotional state and how I'm coping. I just want you all to know that I really am at peace with all of this.
I am so incredibly proud of who she has already become at just 14. Being a mother has been the single most awesome thing that has ever happened to me, and despite some slips and scrapes along the way, the fact that she has been able to make this choice, despite the pain associated with leaving her home and her friends, with confidence and resolution makes me feel like I got this one right.
I've done a lot of questionable things in my life. I've left many projects unfinished. I don't take a lot of things very seriously, but when it comes to being the mother my girls deserve, I don't mess around.
Besides that, she's not going to a boarding school. She's going to live with her Daddy. She has spent most of her life missing him and now is their time. I got her for the major part of the last 10 years. It's his turn to enjoy having her in his home for at least the next 4 - if not more. She's a blessing and he's a big part of who she is. It's right that he be given the gift of seeing her face each morning.
I'm going to cry. A lot. So will she. So will her sisters. But we're all warriors and our souls speak to each other in a way only we understand. We are a Tribe. We'll be fine. No amount of time or distance will ever change that and if I do my job right, one day they'll all be out in the world, spreading their wings, being awesome and changing the lives of others just as they've changed mine.
So don't worry about us. We're not being torn apart. We're simply spreading out. I'm too full of happiness for her and her upcoming adventure to focus on what's changing in my own life.
Caterpillars don't mourn their cocoons. They celebrate their ability to fly. And her wings are going to ROCK!
So let's get to it. Why so much going on? It's simple. At the tender age of 14, my oldest daughter is moving away. It's basically ripping my heart out, but at the same time, the whole point of being a mother (in my opinion) is to raise your children to be the very best versions of themselves that they can possibly be. I'm learning that sometimes, that means we have to let them fly away to chase after their dreams and seize the opportunities that life throws at them. In our case, my baby girl Goo is moving to Switzerland to attend school at an international school. And before you gasp in horror at the thought of me "sending her away to a boarding school in Switzerland" (I always hear Joanna Barnes hissing that line from The Parent Trap when I say that), hear me out. Her father lives there with his wife and their children. He told her years ago that if she wanted to go to school there, he'd make it happen for her. The choice was and always has been completely hers to make. She's gone through an emotional roller coaster that would shame most teenagers' most insane rides, but she's assured me that she's not looking back and knows this is right for her.
So the time has come. The clock is striking midnight and it's time to leave the tea party. Her sisters and I are going to keep the light on for here down in Texas for when she comes home to visit. I wrote a Facebook post a while back that pretty much sums up what I'm trying to write here, so I'm going to do to ol' Copy/Paste thing and share it below. Originally posted on my Facebook page on June 19th, 2014.
I want to share my perspective on the upcoming move that my oldest is about to embark on. I have gotten some very sweet texts, messages and phone calls regarding my emotional state and how I'm coping. I just want you all to know that I really am at peace with all of this.
I am so incredibly proud of who she has already become at just 14. Being a mother has been the single most awesome thing that has ever happened to me, and despite some slips and scrapes along the way, the fact that she has been able to make this choice, despite the pain associated with leaving her home and her friends, with confidence and resolution makes me feel like I got this one right.
I've done a lot of questionable things in my life. I've left many projects unfinished. I don't take a lot of things very seriously, but when it comes to being the mother my girls deserve, I don't mess around.
Besides that, she's not going to a boarding school. She's going to live with her Daddy. She has spent most of her life missing him and now is their time. I got her for the major part of the last 10 years. It's his turn to enjoy having her in his home for at least the next 4 - if not more. She's a blessing and he's a big part of who she is. It's right that he be given the gift of seeing her face each morning.
I'm going to cry. A lot. So will she. So will her sisters. But we're all warriors and our souls speak to each other in a way only we understand. We are a Tribe. We'll be fine. No amount of time or distance will ever change that and if I do my job right, one day they'll all be out in the world, spreading their wings, being awesome and changing the lives of others just as they've changed mine.
So don't worry about us. We're not being torn apart. We're simply spreading out. I'm too full of happiness for her and her upcoming adventure to focus on what's changing in my own life.
Caterpillars don't mourn their cocoons. They celebrate their ability to fly. And her wings are going to ROCK!
Clean Cup, Clean Cup, Move Down, MOVE DOWN!
Welcome to the madness! It's been a long time since I posted a blog and recently it's been requested of me to start writing again. So much has happened in my life since I quit roller derby and started eating clean and shifted my focus back onto my home life, I'm not even going to try to recap. It's in the past. It's been interesting. And now we're going to start here ... at the New Beginning because the Old Beginning is too hard to remember. Plus, it's over now. Old news. NEXT!
A couple years ago, I posted a Facebook update that when I hit "Post", I realized I had encompassed the life I share with my daughters in one sentence. That is where the title of this blog came from. We're all mad here! Hahahaha! And we NEVER want that to change.
So follow me into my future as I share my thoughts on being a mom, being a wife-type thing to Loverboy and on other things I love dearly like my dog (Chiquee) and my car (Charleigh). Yes, my car has a name ... don't judge. I'll try to keep the rants to a minimum as no one likes a bitchy blogger and I believe very strongly in manifestation, so I am constantly working at trying to focus on the Positive because that's all I'm really interested in bringing into my life. So far, it seems to be working! I'm in Switzerland as I type this ... and I'll be sharing that as well!
A couple years ago, I posted a Facebook update that when I hit "Post", I realized I had encompassed the life I share with my daughters in one sentence. That is where the title of this blog came from. We're all mad here! Hahahaha! And we NEVER want that to change.
So follow me into my future as I share my thoughts on being a mom, being a wife-type thing to Loverboy and on other things I love dearly like my dog (Chiquee) and my car (Charleigh). Yes, my car has a name ... don't judge. I'll try to keep the rants to a minimum as no one likes a bitchy blogger and I believe very strongly in manifestation, so I am constantly working at trying to focus on the Positive because that's all I'm really interested in bringing into my life. So far, it seems to be working! I'm in Switzerland as I type this ... and I'll be sharing that as well!
Feels good to be back. :-)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)