This move has been stressful. Any move is, but packing up an entire house and sending it on a ship to a house you have never seen is super stressful.
And thats a 35 year old grown up that is finding it stressful. I can only imagine how daunting and overwhelming this must be for a 7 year old and a 4 year old.
My children though, have taken everything in stride. A few small wobbles, a bit of separation anxiety but mainly they have been super stars!
Both children helped sort out their toys. What toys were broken and needed to be thrown away, what toys could be given to charity and what toys were being sent to Israel. There were no tears, no tantrums, just acceptance that they were not taking everything with. They both made a concerted effort to ‘save’ toys for charity. When I asked them to each choose 3 fluffy toys, they did so with no arguing. The rest they made sure that I sent to a charity with children that would love the soft toys like they did.
They have taken to living in my moms house as if it were their own. They are kind and courteous to my moms elderly domestic worker (She raised me from newborn!) and say please and thank you and help clear off the table and make their beds. They carry laundry upstairs for her and give her hugs and kisses whenever they see her.
Every single day these children amaze me in their ability to adapt and to take things in stride. I expect a few more wobbles along the way and we will deal with those as they occur but my kids have made me the proudest mom in the last few weeks.
That’s children for you – way more adaptable than we are