We've been in Germany about five days and we're coping.
Our house is fine. I'm not in love with it yet, but I rarely love a house when we first move in. Love takes time! It's townhouse style living which is a tad more communal and close than I am comfortable with. I've had curious little faces peering into my back door every day since we arrived. They mean well...they want the kiddos to come out and play, but during naptime...I want silence and no kids! I'm also ashamed to admit that I'm a tad worried about what my neighbors will hear. I'm always wonderfully patient and even-tempered and my words and tone of voice are always soft and gentle on the ears, but what if I wasn't....? [Did you catch my sarcasm there? Right-o.]
The kids are doing as well as can be expected. There's some extra tears and tempers, mostly just due to being out of their routine and comfort zones. We also spend all night playing whack-a-mole since we are still adjusting to local time. They all go to bed at 8pm but each one has a wakeful period sometime between 11pm and 2 or 3 am. Naturally, their wakeful periods are sequential and not concurrent, so I'm in and out of bed constantly during that time. Needless to say, I'm probably going to be the last to fully adapt to Germany time. I'm not doing anything special to help the kids adjust to the time, aside from making their bedrooms extra, extra dark at bedtime and a little brighter during naptime. I read a recommendation from another blog that you should keep your regular timezone and strive for a "normal" routine until you arrive. Then, once you are on the ground, you enforce the local time right away. It sounds a little mean but it's working for us. I also like that we're not dragging this process out at all. So far, the only "forcing" I've had to do is to wake the kids up from their naps at a "normal" time, then we go for a walk to refresh ourselves and wake up a little more for the evening stretch. During the wakeful periods at night, I sit with SBG until she goes back to sleep. (Soldier has had to take a few shifts, too). We tell the big ones that they can play with a toy but they must be quiet and keep their lights off. Conveniently, Monster Boy has some sniffles that I think are probably allergy related and Bunny Girl got some monster mosquito bits the day we arrived. (She swells up like you wouldn't believe!) Why is this convenient? Well...it means I can give them a little Benadryl at night guilt-free. I've only done it twice, since I really want them to adapt and they only need so much medicine but golly....it sure was wonderful to have a little "help" in the sleep department at 2am our first two nights here!!!
We've ventured out a little. Mostly, trying to get the basics for our house and baby-gates. (These stairs are CRAZY!) I remember being told not to worry about learning German before coming since the Germans all speak English. Well, I don't know what part of Germany that is but it's NOT here. It's very frustrating and intimidating to not speak the language. When shopping, it takes much longer because I can't read a sign to see where the "Baby" section is or whatever else I'm looking for. I see the temptation for hiding in my house and only shopping at the teeny-tiny PX but I'm trying to keep pushing through that. It's just very frustrating and embarrassing to not speak the language. (I can't help but think of the families from Juarez that venture to El Paso every day for work or shopping. It's a big lesson for me on compassion and empathy.)
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