Our experiences thus far in Madrid have been over the top incredible. We are so blessed to be able to have this experience and we have been trying to "stop and smell the roses" and appreciate all that is around us here. We have been successful in seeing as much as we can see, and do as much as we can do. With two young children there are times that you are pinched back to reality over things that, as adults, we try and push through in order to make each of our "homes" the best that it can be. As I mentioned in a previous post, "Every place is what you make of it." Well, the kids have a harder time embracing this concept. They cannot always appreciate the age of buildings, statues and fountains. They don't care to understand, at this point, the history of how a city, such as Madrid, became a city. All they know is that they have been pulled away from everything that they have ever known, or known for a really long time, and there are days that they just want to go back to what they know.
Being a military family can sometimes be a double edged sword. We "get" to move every few years and experience all new places. Hubby and I have moved many, many times and we always try to look forward to our new locations as an opportunity to see something we have never seen before. We would even start to get "the itch" when we have been in one place longer than normal. Some moves are more welcome than others, as the location we were leaving weren't the most ideal locations. Now, with children, this moving business is a whole new ball game. We had been very fortunate in our last duty station and had been "stable" for just over 6 years. Our littlest, LuLu, was born there and our oldest was almost 3 when we arrived to Fort Carson, Colorado. So having been in that location so long was really all our kids had ever known. In previous moves our oldest was too little to really understand what was going on and we hadn't yet had the little one. So this move has been especially tough on LuLu. She has been torn from, literally, her whole life as she knows it. There are many days where she wakes up in tears. She just wants to go back to Colorado and all her friends and everything she is "comfy" with. As a parent this just breaks your heart. Hubby and I miss the friends that we have made as well, but we are "old hats" at this moving business, and since most of our friends are also military they know the old Army saying, "See you later". We NEVER say goodbye...only SEE YOU LATER. We hope and pray that at some point down the road we do cross paths again with the many special families that we have been blessed to get to know.
There are many more "kinks" put into our moving routine when moving overseas. As I mentioned before Hubby and I are "old hats" at this moving business, but neither of us have moved overseas before. In our many, many military moves, we have never had the right conditions to have gotten a door-to-door move. A door to door move is one that once the movers pack out and load your household goods on their semi the timing works just perfect that you get to your new location and have a house that they can literally drive your things from the home they packed it to the new home and not have to unload the truck in government storage. This has never happened to us. Our stuff always goes into storage and is delivered when everything else is in order. Now...throw an overseas move into the mix. By the time we get our stuff delivered here in Spain it will have been exactly 2 months since it left our residence in Colorado. Now, of course, an overseas move is a differnent sort of beast in itself. Our stuff must ship over on a boat versus being driven in a semi-truck. Again, for Hubby and I, not that big of deal. We are certainly looking forward to getting our things, but now think of this whole thing through a childs point of view. The kids have not seen their toys, beds and all the things that are special to them for 2 months. Imagine for a moment...leaving your home of 6 years, 2 months ago, with essentially only what you could carry onto an airplane. I am not going to lie and say that the limited clothing items that I having been wearing for the past 2 months may have to be burned when my other clothes arrive because I cannot stand to look at them anymore. :-) The kids could really care less about their clothes, but they have really been troopers under the circumstances. They are confined to this little 2 bedroom apartment with only the toys and things that they could carry in their backpack on the airplane. Military children are especially resiliant and can adapt very quickly, but the reality is that they are still children and don't yet have the coping skills that adults have. As a parent we certainly try to "soften the blow", as you will, with all that is going on. We try to encourage all the great things that they are getting to see and the new people they will meet. The reality is...sometimes it isn't that easy for the little ones.
We have just about a week left before we can begin to really "settle in" to our new home. We move into the house next week and will be able to receive our household goods at that time. We are certainly looking forward to getting our routines and schedules back in order and hopefully with familiar things surrounding us, the kids can start to feel like this is "home" and begin to make new memories and friends. I never want them to forget all their past experiences, but hope and pray that they can embrace and appreciate where they are in the present. They truly are a unique breed from other children and probably once they are grown and have their own families will they truly appreciate those past experiences. Here is to praying that each and every transistion our children go through they feel the Lord's presence as comfort and familiarity.
Until next time....
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