April 28, 2006

Good Morning America!

The kids are off to school and Aidan's fever has dropped quite a bit. We have survived the first week of school, so to speak. They still go to school on Saturdays and mandatory church with their class on Sundays, so I'm not sure there is ever a "weekend" until the half term break. Plenty of opportunities for Siobhan's brain to grow.

We really seem to be settling in pretty well. Things that proved overwhelming at first are now manageable. Take laundry, for instance. I literally sat on the floor and nearly wept when our machine was taking five hours to wash/dry one VERY small load. Now, after talking to numerous people, I no longer dry our clothes in the dryer. Everything is hung dry. That's what everyone does here. It isn't as bad as it seems, thanks, in part, to the fact that I had a very"meaningful" discussion with all family members about how many times we wear outfits in this country before they are considered dirty. If you are under the age of thirteen, you are no longer allowed a new outfit everyday. No one is allowed a fresh towel daily. Or fresh pajamas. I had a tone in my voice (most of you have heard THE TONE) so there was no confusion that bad things would happen to rule breakers. It's been successful as is demonstrated by the fact that Ryan came home from school yesterday and sat down in the family room chair. A few minutes later, he mumbled something and moved to the couch where I was sitting with a sick Aidan. Ryan then said, with self-disgust," EEEWWW! Those are MY feet that stink so much! I kept moving trying to get away from the smell, but it was ME!". He hadn't changed his socks in four days. I made revisions to the Laundry Rules taking into account that common sense varies from person to person.

The double decker buses are still charming, but are becoming more commonplace to us. Aidan, who can't pronounce "double decker bus" yells out, "RUBBER DICKEY BUTH" every time he sees one. The kids LOVE this and encourage it at very high decibel levels every chance they get.

We are missing our pets. The kids miss our dog alot. I, in particular, miss our cat, Leo. This is a cat's paradise. Mind you, I'm certain that OUR 130 year old townhome with a million nooks and crannies, does not have any mice, but I'm sure our neighbors must. There are two cats who come around alot and Aidan and I are enjoying them (read: secretly feeding them). Our dog Barley wouldn't have adjusted well here which is why I think I don't miss her as much. As many of you know, Barley is part Golden Retriever, part Standard Poodle. She is as cute as they come but dumber than just about any dog I've ever known. She refuses to climb stairs, so a four story townhouse with two foot wide, stone stairs would have been miserable for her.

While we're on the subject, I'd like it noted that I haven't complained once (publicly) about the stair situation. Out of respect for my cousin, Liz, who lives in a four story townhouse in DC with TWO BABIES, I will not discuss how living life on a virtual stair master machine has grown my thighs Olympic proportions. Or maybe it's the shortbread cookies.

Lastly, I'd like to brag about the kids: Not one of them has splattered ink on their school uniforms. They are required to use fountain pens at school which I thought would be a disaster! Can you imagine a classroom of nine and ten year old boys with fountain pens? All that ink!? No wonder they have so many rules!!

Hugs to all,

T