A little over a month here and our lives are finally starting to find a little normalcy. Well, as normal as living in a foreign country can be. Turns out, we all just live our lives day to day, and how normal it feels is all up to you. We have far fewer distractions and all the tools we grew accustomed to in the good 'ol USA to move through the day. The kitchen is awesome, albeit a tad bit small, and it is excellent to be able to cook again, and do my dishes in a place that appears more "normal" for such activities. The internet is here! That was probably the biggest relief of all. It has provided us a stronger sense of connection to our family and friends back in the USA.
So, now that we have all "necessary" amenities, our first big European trip under our belts, and some familiarity with our amazing German town, it's time to get back to living life. It's been a rather big adjustment for me that I didn't expect, although I should have anticipated it completely... In addition to living abroad, I'm also adjusting to being a stay-at-home mom. Kudos to all those mothers out there that do this because it is much tougher than it seems. I've felt lately that I'm just not programmed yet to living my days this way. And no worries, my search for employment is in the works, but my focus is on a legal oriented job I can do part-time from home so that I can relish this precious time with little r. Not many mothers get to experience the time at home with their little ones, so I'm hoping to not have to give that up meanwhile not losing touch with the career I worked so hard to attain.
Now that I view being a mom as my full-time job, I'm realizing it encompasses so much more than just being home with little r all day. I own the responsibility of making sure all things for the household are taken care of, and handling all the scheduling and issues that naturally compound our lives. This is a much more difficult balance than I originally believed it could be. I have realized that providing some structure to my day is crucial, and also to better understand those things that can be easily handled with a toddler versus those things that need to be taken care of when the little man sleeps is necessary to having a more productive day.
I immediately started searching for things to add structure to our lives. I enrolled little r in a toddler tumbling class twice a week to get him a fun activity and time around other kids, joined a book club (because I'm crazy thinking I can actually read a book every month!), and stumbled onto a group of women on post that play volleyball for fun three times a week at the gym. We are off to a good start. I, of course, have to deal with all the daily minutia that we can't escape and I have lists surrounding me to remind of them all, but that's boring crap that none of you want to hear about. I'd rather you all think little r and I play all day because frankly that image is so much more fun.
The best part about my new life, though, are the spontaneous outings we get to experience as a family. We live in a vacation destination, and it only seems right that we treat it that way. Our nonexistent commute means that Big R can work a full day, and yet we still have time to have dinner out at a local beer garden to watch the sunset and have little r snuggled in by bedtime. Can't beat that!
So, now that we have all "necessary" amenities, our first big European trip under our belts, and some familiarity with our amazing German town, it's time to get back to living life. It's been a rather big adjustment for me that I didn't expect, although I should have anticipated it completely... In addition to living abroad, I'm also adjusting to being a stay-at-home mom. Kudos to all those mothers out there that do this because it is much tougher than it seems. I've felt lately that I'm just not programmed yet to living my days this way. And no worries, my search for employment is in the works, but my focus is on a legal oriented job I can do part-time from home so that I can relish this precious time with little r. Not many mothers get to experience the time at home with their little ones, so I'm hoping to not have to give that up meanwhile not losing touch with the career I worked so hard to attain.
Now that I view being a mom as my full-time job, I'm realizing it encompasses so much more than just being home with little r all day. I own the responsibility of making sure all things for the household are taken care of, and handling all the scheduling and issues that naturally compound our lives. This is a much more difficult balance than I originally believed it could be. I have realized that providing some structure to my day is crucial, and also to better understand those things that can be easily handled with a toddler versus those things that need to be taken care of when the little man sleeps is necessary to having a more productive day.
I immediately started searching for things to add structure to our lives. I enrolled little r in a toddler tumbling class twice a week to get him a fun activity and time around other kids, joined a book club (because I'm crazy thinking I can actually read a book every month!), and stumbled onto a group of women on post that play volleyball for fun three times a week at the gym. We are off to a good start. I, of course, have to deal with all the daily minutia that we can't escape and I have lists surrounding me to remind of them all, but that's boring crap that none of you want to hear about. I'd rather you all think little r and I play all day because frankly that image is so much more fun.
The best part about my new life, though, are the spontaneous outings we get to experience as a family. We live in a vacation destination, and it only seems right that we treat it that way. Our nonexistent commute means that Big R can work a full day, and yet we still have time to have dinner out at a local beer garden to watch the sunset and have little r snuggled in by bedtime. Can't beat that!
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