Wm on Bidding

On Monday night, Wm asked if I knew what countries we might be going to next.  Never being one to shy away from the topic of moving (my thought is if we talk about it, it becomes "normal"), I hesitatingly told him the list.  I hesitated because he is so opinionated ... and I was pretty sure he would decide which place he wanted to move to - which might not end up being the place we actually get assigned - which could lead to disappointment.

After considering the 10 countries or so, he said, "Hmm... I think I'd like to go to Vietnam because it's close to Manila or to India because Patch was born there."  Then he continued brushing his teeth.  A little later, he piped up again: "If you get a choice between India and Vietnam, I think you should choose Vietnam."  His reasoning? "When we lived in India, there was more smog and you said I always had a cough, so maybe Vietnam wouldn't be like that."

Well, kid, we'll see what November 10 has to bring.  Could be India or Vietnam, or somewhere else entirely... 

More on bidding and unpacking

The bid season (August - November, if you're lucky, the year before an assignment ends) is a horrible time in the life of a Foreign Service Officer.  As we've said before ... we *have* a permanent job - why do we have to hunt for one?  The peaks and valleys of hearing something promising (or discouraging!) from post or office can be nerve wracking.  The toll on the personal side is just as worse.

I hear parents chatting about the third grade soccer team - the last year before the boys split between recreational and travel.  I have no idea if Wm will be on his team next year.  And, fourth grade, forget about - way too far off!  I've put off finding anything for Patch (he's variously asked about swimming, soccer and gymnastics), questioning if it is worth it to get started on something he might not be able to follow through on.  I did decide this year, though, that we could probably do piano in the next city, so at least that was one decision I could take.

What about clothing?  Another winter is coming ... and my clothes are horribly out of date.  But, if we go some place warm, I won't wear them for years, and they'll fall out of style.  We could end up somewhere cold (doubtful), and they might not be warm enough.  Or, we could be another two years in DC and I'd be happy I spent the money.  My prediction?  Inertia will win and I won't invest.

I posted before about wanting new furniture for our living room and bedroom, and how knowing we might move, possibly as early as June 2015, has stopped me from taking any action on that front.  Today, I decided I needed to do something to make myself feel settled and focus on the present, since I've been dwelling too much on post-June 2015 scenarios.  Cathartic response?  Emptying two jumbled display cases (we quickly needed breakable things out of boxes and out of reach of little hands) and thoughtfully arranging them.  Results pretty good, but it's still a long way until November and that elusive next assignment.

What is that widget thing?

Wm's school PTA decided to try a new fundraising technique this year.  Rather than sell wrapping paper in the fall and cookie dough in the spring, the PTA is organizing a fun run on October 3 at our neighborhood park.

You can read more about it here and here.

I fully support this for the reasons I think a parent dreamed this up in the first place:
1. I hate asking friends and family to buy wrapping paper and other stuff.  Which is silly, of course, because I often purchased wrapping paper from fundraisers held by nieces, nephews and cousins because, let's face it, you can always use some more wrapping paper.  Especially when living overseas and the stuff is hard to come by.
2. Anything that gets the kids excited about being outside is fantastic (though, not like Wm needs any encouragement.  Honestly, we have a harder time getting him inside to eat and sleep).
3. The kids actually do the work (i.e., running).  Let's face it, it was really the parents doing the other fundraisers.

So, to help support the school raise money through this new mechanism, I've shamelessly added the widget to this blog.  It'll be there for about a month, until the October 3 run.  Wm thought $100 was a good goal after hearing his dad tell a story about how his grandparents pledged $1/lap swam.  Except Greg kept swimming and swimming until, 100 laps later, the organizers told him to stop.  I thought that amount was fair because that's basically what I spent between the other two fundraisers last year, so the school makes out the same (or maybe more, because I'm actually half-soliciting donations this time!).

His Bib #512 ... let's see how he does!

Getting Returns

Our oldest is a bit of a tyrant.  Before he was born, we intended to call him "Will."  But within hours of him coming out, I told Greg this baby - still so new - was just too serious and I couldn't call him anything except his full name.  At 2.5, we joked he was a "benevolent dictator" and thought he would change with the addition of a sibling, necessitating sharing the attention.  Wrong.  If I'm honest, most of our house revolves around keeping his mood steady.  We've learned more than a few tricks in the last seven years, and he's learned to cope with many of his (seemingly neurotic) habits/sensitivities (if you live in the outside world).  Things get better as time goes on, but it still takes an enormous about of effort.  

All along, though, his teachers have noted his empathy, and other parents have commented how much he takes care of his little brothers.  When things get crazy, I try to remember this.  So, when he told me nonchalantly this afternoon he got a "model behavior" award at school for helping "his friend" "A," I had to hold back some tears. 

(I don't know his parents, so don't know how they feel about names on blogs, so I'll just call the other boy "A")

"A" moved here just at the end of last school year from another country (not one we've lived in) and didn't speak any English.  Wm's first grade teacher noted at the end of the year how helpful Wm was with patiently explaining how things work to "A."  My guess is that the teachers intentionally placed "A" in the desk next to Wm at the start of this year.  My other guess is that "A," still suffering a bit of a language barrier, doesn't have many friends. 

I have no idea if Wm remembers being the only native English speaker in his schools in India or the Philippines.  Both were English-medium schools, but I have to assume Hindi/Telugu and Tagalog/Chinese pervaded on the playgrounds at the preschool level.  Maybe subconsciously he remembers what it's like not to intuitively understand and to need a friend to explain things.  Or I could be projecting my peripatetic lifestyle decisions into a positive outcome in my child's behavior, just to make me feel better (if 2-3 years can still be considered peripatetic? maybe not).  

Either way, I was touched he called "A" his friend, and that he went out of his way to help him.  The stubborn autocrat once again shows he has a softer side.

One-third

Yesterday, Wm and Patch went to a double sleepover with a neighborhood family with two boys pretty much exactly the same age (within months).  They had a great time.  We had a great time just hanging out with Ian.  Probably the first time ever (?!) Ian has had two parents all to himself.  As Greg remarked at the end, Ian seems the most generally happiest of the three.  Wm is very serious.  Patch is even-kealed.  But, Ian sings to himself (twinkle twinkle, baa baa black sheep, wheels on the bus), babbles, jumps around, and is all smiles in a way we don't remember the other two being.

With the lighter load, we went to a friend's house and actually both enjoyed talking, each with one eye casually on Ian in the play area.  Seriously.  Crazy.  I think we haven't done that since before Patch was born!  And we watched a full episode of Sherlock.  And I cleaned out one of the remaining four boxes in our room (yesterday's blog post about furniture inspired me).

Now, Ian is asleep.  Greg has taken Wm to the baseball game (thanks, Aunt Beth!).  So, down to 1/3 of the usual crew again.  Given that the mellow child is the one left awake ... I'm tempted to just let him watch PBS Kids on the iPad so I can take a nap.  Or tackle another rats' nest in our bedroom.  But, I guess I better ask him if he has anything else in mind, taking advantage of my un-distracted state of mind.

[result two hours later]

I let this kind of nap happen

So this kind of armoire could emerge

School supplies purchase

one week until school starts - I finally convinced Wm to walk two blocks to staples to purchase his supplies.  Being a girl, I thought he should pick things out to make sure he got the design he liked for the binder, the pencil box, the composition notebooks ...

SILLY ME

What was I thinking?  He's a boy!  There is, in fact, nothing to choose if you're a boy other than blue/red/green/black.  Now, if I had a girl, the selection process could very well take hours.  Solid? Print? Design? What kind of design? Coordinate the binder/pencil box/notebooks or just choose independently?  Pastels or brights?  How ever to pick from the 20+ options?

We were in and out of the store in 15 minutes.  It took longer to convince him that we actually really did need to go today than purchase the supplies.  

Setting up shop

When we moved into the new house, I had a flurry of unpacking and purchasing of necessities (i.e., shelves strong enough to hold the entire National Geographic collection, bunk beds for two big boys, a bed for Lea).  I think we were unpacked within a month of receiving all our shipments (as long as you don't count those four boxes still in my bedroom with which I don't know what to do).  Miracle.  Then it was onto the necessary home improvements: replacing the guillotine-like garage door with normal doors that didn't threaten to decapitate our children; patio and steps down to the newly functional garage area; tile by basement doors; bringing chimney up to code; and (last one to be completed soon) a new water heater.  *phew*

Of course, this means I am now starting to focus on how I don't really like how our old living room furniture fits in the living room (not really place for four adults to sit, actually) or that how the size of my grandparents' very nice dining set just isn't quite right for our dining room.

I'd like a new sofa, two chairs, new side tables for the living room; a new dining set (or maybe my mom wants to trade my grandparents' for her buffet, table, and chairs ... some of which of my mom's may have belonged also to my grandparents before they upgraded to the set I have. slightly amusing); and completely new everything in our bedroom.  I'd love to search through yard sales, consignment stores, and flea markets, maybe make it into Union Market or Eastern Market in DC.  Go through all the different showrooms on Rockville Pike.  Have a valid excuse to check out the high end stores in Bethesda (just to get ideas of course!).  Or what used to be my favorite middle ground shop 10+ years ago: Random Harvest.

Putting aside the fact that I have no money for new furniture after all the home improvement activities above, it is bid season.  Which means I have no idea if I'm going to be in this house for a mere 10 months or longer.  And, if we're moving next summer, why buy something to just stick it in storage?  Nope, no point.  Can't bring myself to invest the time and emotion to find the perfect pieces (could take months) to just pack it away.

At least the constant moving keeps me from spending money I probably shouldn't?  Find a silver lining in every cloud.