Question of the Month

One happy little girl!

January Question of the Month: In the daily ‘trying to fit a quart into a pint jug,’ what is the best advice you’ve ever received, or what words do you live by?

The best advice, and words that I live by, I received from my mom. That advice is: Make yourself happy first. Sounds simple right? I'm sure that some may view it as a bit selfish as well, wanting to put others first and whatnot. But for me, this has worked in life. The whole thought behind this advice is that you can't make anyone else happy if you're not happy yourself. And I don't mean you always have a smile on your face or are fake cheerful or something, but generally in life you have to be satisfied with your decisions and know and trust that they are the best for you and those around you.

Since I live by this advice examples are easy to come by. It stares me in the face every day as a mom. If I don't take time to do things for myself, away from Baby K, I start to get a little cranky. This may be a terrible thing to say, but I am a much better mother if I have some time away to do whatever it is that makes me feel like a person again- could be writing, French lessons, some sort of exercise, dinner with friends, time alone with BK- just something that refuels me and things that make me happy. People also often comment how happy Baby K is; I'm a firm believer she is this way because she has two parents who are generally happy people. She can sense it.

As a social worker, this one was easy. Our profession often talks about the importance of self-care, but is the worst about not practicing it. It's the same concept as above though. I cannot care for people in need if I'm in turmoil and not doing well mentally. As a social worker, if you hate your job and the people you work with, what good are you really going to do for people? I'm going to go ahead and guess not very much.

And of course in a relationship, I'm not sure how two unhappy people even begin to build a relationship on a solid foundation. If one person is not happy with their self, it is going to flow over into all aspects of the relationship, making one or both question actions, motives and generally bring in a lot of self-doubt on various levels. Ultimately you're still two individuals who have come into a partnership together, and if one of the partners is not happy, both will feel it.

Okay, so now that you've had my philosophical post for the month, there's only one thing to do...go out and be happy!

Some things I noticed

On the plane headed home!

We made it back to Switzerland in one piece and are very happy to be back! Of course we love being in Texas and seeing all of our family and friends, but five weeks is a really long time to be away from home. Baby K was good on our flights home; she slept about four hours on the long flight and then was extremely tired, but playful on our second flight. The Tobster is having a hard time getting used to being manhandled by Baby K and has been a little snappy. We're going to have to work on that.

It's funny, being in Texas for five weeks, I noticed some things about the US that would have never even crossed my mind had we never lived abroad. Some are funny, some make me seem old, but here it goes...

• I found myself often sitting in the right lane at red lights and not turning right on red. Finally one time, BK asked me if I was going straight or something. I then realized it hadn't even crossed my mind to turn right on red. You can't turn right on red in Switzerland and I guess I've gotten used to that.
• There is SO MUCH STUFF in the US. Target is specifically very overwhelming. I mean, seriously, there are about a million different choices of cereal. It's so overboard.
• The service in restaurants in the US, in general, is awesome. It's a dining experience, instead of them making you feel like you're lucky to be sitting at the table and they don't really care if you're happy with what you got, or if you ever come back.
• Driving in the US is a bit chaotic. In Switzerland it is illegal to pass on the right, and I like this rule. In Texas it feels like people are all over the place on the highway.
• Food is so ridiculously cheap in the US (as is everything). In Switzerland it is rare that BK and I can even get "fast food" for less than about $30. In the US the three of us can eat for around $15. Crazy.
• BK has an insatiable appetite for Mexican food, specifically Tex-Mex. I seriously think he must have eaten it about 10 times while he was there for 15 days. On the other hand, I didn't have it before he came, and tried not to have it after he left. I'm good for another six months, and even then it will not be my first stop when we get back.
• There is a lot of really bad music on the radio. Ick. Country, pop, alternative; it all runs together and it's all typically bad. The song "Stressed Out" specifically grated on me. It was on four radio stations at one time. Is it really that good?

One last thing. Baby K's English vocabulary exploded while we were in the US. I'm always thinking about her picking up French and how that is going, but I often fail to think about the fact that BK and I are really her only regular exposure to English. In the US we were constantly around about 10 people at any given time, and she gained so many more words and phrases. She talked a lot before, but now it's even more. She's a busy little thing.

This week it's back to normal for us- BK to work, me to French class and Baby K to creche. We have a busy spring coming up and I'm sure I'll have much to report!

Hello 2016!

Happy New Year from Baby K!

I'm happy to say that I welcomed 2016 in just the way I resolved to do so last year...by being in bed before midnight! I know, it seems SO not exciting, but I started 2016 a much happier person as a result.

Although, once again, Baby K woke up last night. It's like she knows it's New Year's Eve or something and she wants to be up. BK and I then made the mistake of putting her in bed with us, thinking that she would go back to sleep quicker. Little did we know that our tiny person would literally take up the majority of our king sized bed. That was the first and last time we do that- so not a good idea.

2015 was a great year full of new experiences as a family, lots of travel and more adventures living abroad. At the beginning of last year I resolved to let life happen a little bit more, and not feel the need to plan everything all the time. I am absolutely still a planner and want to know how things are going to go. But, I do think I did a little bit better this year, loosening up about the order that must be had. I'll probably keep working on this one, keeping in mind that as Baby K gets older, she will also have her ideas about how things "should" go. We'll see how that works out for all of us.

2016 is sure to hold many new adventures for BK, Baby K and me. Looking out to the first few months of the year, we already have a number of trips planned to places we haven't been before, and both my mom and dad have scheduled trips over to visit us. Baby K will continue to go to creche, and I'm thinking about only taking French once per week so I can join a hiking group and explore more of our area. As cliche as it sounds, life is good, and we're extremely fortunate to be where we are.

And...if I'm completely honest, BK and I are getting closer to being ready to come back to Texas. With Baby K getting older, it is killing us that she only sees our parents and her cousins two times per year. And seeing her have so much fun with them when we're in Texas really drives that home. Even though we love living abroad, it's just so far away from everyone we love. Lots of things have to fall into place for this to happen, but we'll see what life brings this year. 

2016 should be a good one! Best wishes for a wonderful year to all!