Welcome to “A Mommy Abroad”! I’m thrilled (if a little surprised) that you’ve found us, but I’m really glad you’re here. I’m in the process of getting things up and running here (but I’m actually working on it, like right now, so it’ll be here soon) but in the meantime, you can check out my blog — which contains thoughts, experiences and suggestions (as well as a bunch of other random stuff, but a lot of it is good) — here.
Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to see you again soon.
I acknowledge that the holidays are over, although you wouldn’t know it if you came into our house. Our tree is still up (with about half of its original lights illuminated, but it’s up) and not a single decoration has been taken down. Our stockings are still hung by our terrace with care (no chimney), we still have a wreath on our front door and the boys still have their (completely opened) Advent calendars hung on their bedroom doors. I enjoy the feeling of the holidays, and I’m not ever in a hurry to put everything away and get back to normal.
As we do almost every year, we got to December 30 without having any idea of what we were going to do to celebrate New Year’s. I don’t really get excited about New Year’s — I like the holiday, I think it’s great to ring in a new year, but after all that goes in to making Christmas, I’m usually pretty spent by December 31. We usually do very little (if anything) and, since B was born, we don’t always even make it until midnight.
Twice a week, I go out by myself for an hour (don’t worry — Dan watches the kids) to give myself a little break and restore my sanity. Most of the time, I end up at Starbucks. Which, I know, is kind of lame in Vienna, the land of coffee houses, but it’s conveniently located, it’s entirely non-smoking and the people that work there are very nice and extremely patient with my Germenglish.
Being a parent is hard. It’s the absolute best thing I’ve ever done (and I’m not just saying that) but it would be significantly easier if there were some kind of manual or user’s guide that came along with our darling little bundles. These are some basic principles I’ve discovered so far, in my first almost 3 1/2 years as a mom (as much to write them down for myself as to spread my wisdom, such as it is). Please don’t misunderstand my intention — I don’t claim to know it all, have all the answers or have it all figured out. (I know that I don’t.) I don’t think these ideas are new, either — I’ve heard them about 100 times each (or more), but they’re just now starting to sink in — these are just some things that I’m learning as I go.
I expect that 2012 will be a big year for us — at the very least, it’s the only full calendar year that we’ll be living abroad, which makes it pretty special. We’re already over 1/3 of the way through our Austrian adventure, so this is going to be a big year for travel — we have four international trips tentatively planned, as well as about as many domestic trips (inside of Austria), and also one or two trips home to the US. I’m really hoping that it works out that we’ll be able to play host to a good number of friends and family who want to come and visit, too. (I can’t wait!) I also really want to keep working on my German: it would be a shame to move home after two years here and not feel like I’d at least learned enough to make myself understood.
It’s been a big year. This time last year, we hadn’t yet made the final decision about whether or not we were going to take this opportunity and move to Austria. Now, here we are, we’ve been here almost 9 months, and we’re feeling relatively settled (but very homesick).
Today started off as a normal Saturday — Dan & Liam slept in for a while, Benjamin and I got up and played. Once Liam and Dan were up, Dan got dressed, took Bailey for a walk and stopped on the way back to pick up breakfast. He tied Bailey outside of the grocery store next to our house (literally, next door), which is common practice in Vienna (grocery stores being one of the few places dogs aren’t typically allowed) and went in to get some sandwiches and coffee. When he came out, about 5 minutes later, Bailey was gone.
Putting my kids down to bed is one of my favorite parts of the day. Not because they’re asleep and I can have a moment to think in peace (although some days it’s part of the reason) but mostly, it’s because I love to get them fed, clean, cuddled and happy, and tuck them in to a nice cozy bed. To me, there’s nothing that feels more comforting and secure than snuggling up in a warm bed.
Our “official” Christmas vacation ended today — Dan had to go back to work. It’s a bummer to get back to life as usual, but we’re lucky, because we really don’t have to. Benjamin doesn’t go back to school until January 9, so we still have about 10 days of not-quite-life-as-usual. I get to enjoy having both B and Liam home with me all day, and as an added bonus, I don’t have to keep an eye on the clock all morning, because I don’t have to go pick anyone up anywhere, so we can, in general, just be a little more lax for a while.