Some things that aren't perfect

Lest everyone think that everything is absolutely wonderful, here are a few things that are not:

It has been several days since we saw the sun, and even though I'm in beautiful Prague, day after day of an overcast sky puts me in a funk, just like it does in Idaho! And if Idaho has been getting sun, I'd rather not know about it. In the 8+ years we lived there, we had a few six-week stretches of hardly any sun and I'd like to just assume that's what they're getting this year, too. (Don't destroy my dream!)

As I mentioned in my video tour of the apartment, the kids fight just as much as they usually do! Maybe even more, now that our quarters are closer. And it matters more now when one of them stomps off or slams a door, because we have neighbors! Who live below us! I imagine them gazing up at their ceiling as they listen to us drag kitchen chairs across the floor, walk heavily across the floor, drop things, and argue and play (both of which tend to be loud activities, especially when it's one card game in particular where they slap the table repeatedly). Actually, I think this house is pretty solid, because I don't often hear the boys upstairs, but I worry about our noise nonetheless.

Sometimes it takes quite a long time to get somewhere with public transportation. If there are several transfers between trams, buses, and/or the metro, it can take 45 minutes or so to get somewhere that might take 15 minutes to drive to. Honestly, though, this isn't really bothering me yet. I'm enjoying the public transportation too much still. I love not worrying about parking, the kids generally enjoy traveling more, and I just like not having to drive.

The last few days, I've been very worried about finding good places to live in the UK and when we come back to Prague (we hope) in the fall. For now, we're enjoying Low Season prices, but that's going to end as the High Season begins, so I'm stressed out, to say the least. Trying not to freak out and think "What have we done?" too often. But enough about that!

To close this post, I'll tell how all of the kids made their first unaccompanied outing. One of the American families in the branch invited us all to go bowling with them Tuesday night, but late Tuesday afternoon, I started getting that visual disturbance thing that means a migraine is on the way. Jon had to work and wouldn't be able to go, either. So I spent my pre-headache time figuring out the route to the bowling alley -- a familiar-to-us tram and then two completely unfamiliar buses. The kids were willing to give it a try, so I wrote everything down, showed Zed their destination using Google's Street View (so useful!), and sent them on their way. I guess there were some missed connections and stops on the way there and back (it can be hard to find the right bus stop when it's your first time, and you have to make sure you're going the right direction and stuff like that), but they made it! And they had a great time bowling. Jon and I had been wanting them to go somewhere on their own, and it was a good opportunity. We'd expected to send them out in smaller groups the first time, but they did well as a large pack of siblings, too.

Comments

  1. Oh my goodness. I got stressed out reading this post. All of those things would probably be way too much for me to handle so, you are still amazing to me even if everything is not perfect.

    The noise and worry about the noise would be huge to me. I remember worrying about that with just a few little kids who crawled around rambunctiously or cried to loud. I can't imagine having to worry about 6 kids, most of which are pretty large! And you know how worried I get about disturbing other people. Almost to an unhealthy point.

    Thanks for this post though. I read FAR too many blogs (okay I hardly read any, but all of them that I read) make their lives sound like they are absolutely perfect. I tell myself they are not, and occasionally the blogger will post sort of like you did, claiming they are not perfect. But even those posts seem perfect. It's annoying. Maybe because I know you and your kids...this one sounded so believable. I still think your adventure is super awesome and amazing, but I totally believe it's not perfect. :)

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  2. I don't know how to fix my typos now that I already published the comment. urrr.

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  3. Yep, Ivy, you know exactly what we're *really* like! :) And I think we'll forgive you for your typos.

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  4. I'm sure Idaho is super cloudy. And holy crap I was having a panic attack while I read the bowling story too! The movie Taken is one I should have never watched. But then I had to giggle thinking of your little band of Von Trapps roaming around getting strange looks from the small European families. :)

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  5. Kim, I didn't worry about the kids until the last half hour or so that they were gone. But then they came home and everything was fine. I probably should not see Taken -- my imagination does just fine without movies to help me along. :)

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