Learning the ropes

The past few days have been a mix of cleaning, straightening, organizing and shopping.  Tuesday morning I went to a coffee meeting (Swedes love their coffee) about the elementary curriculum.  Since we are new to the school, I needed to know how and what my kids would be learning this year.  I was extremely impressed by the adopted curriculum, IPC.  I will expand more on this tomorrow after I attend Back to School Night.

We finally have our apartment organized enough that I was able to focus on cleaning.  I love the windows open all day and the cross breeze that flows through our home, but the dust is ridiculous.  Now I understand why I'm one of the few people in Stockholm with my windows open.  I bought a great little vacuum that I use daily.  Besides the dust, the dirt that we track into our home is nuts also.  Hence, remove your shoes before entering a home in Sweden.   There is a lot of gravel on the playgrounds which makes for dirty, clothes, shoes, legs and feet.  The boys actually enjoy showers here (it was always an argument back in America.... they hated showering).  I can't wait to show them this when they are teenagers....

We ended our Tuesday with a new printer!  Since printing pictures is a huge project here, I'm excited to set up the printer and have the option at home.   It was too late to head home and cook dinner at this point, so we ate a really good dinner at the restaurant, Broken.  It was American food, with a Swedish menu.  The waiter was awesome and very patient with me as I asked about dairy and gluten and he led me to a delicious goat cheese salad. Yummy!!!  I've been drinking more wine here than I did back home.  This could be for a number of reasons:  1) We don't drive here, 2) My children are driving me to drink, 3) everyone drinks at all hours of the day.. it's very common to have a glass of wine with lunch, 4) My children are driving me to drink, 5) it takes the edge off of a really long day 6) My children are driving me to drink!

I am struggling a bit with with travel time.  I'm laughing because my sister Dee would struggle living here, she never calculates travel time into her schedule.  Don't get mad Dee.... we all love you just the same. So, I'm having to deal with Smith and his serious lack of urgency, and at the same time understand how time of the day plays a role as well.   Getting the boys out of the house in the morning is going fairly well.... we have our occasional meltdowns, but for the most part, we have a routine that works.  Chase's little legs don't move as quickly, so we often have to slow down so he can keep up.  Traveling solo is so much easier!

Today was a lot of fun with the girls.  Claudette, Lori and I met for lunch and Claudette was our tour guide around the shopping district.  I love European fashion.  I can't wait to start buying.  Steve, you didn't read that!  Let me see if I remember where I was today.  The mall is called the Gallerian.. and I am pretty sure it was on Regeringsgatan.  The malls here are not what we're used to in the states.  For one, there is shopping everywhere, but this location seems to have a lot of stores within.  The best part, it's attached to T-Centralen (Central Station), so when it's raining or snowing, I don't have to go outside to shop.  That's my kind of mall... no fighting the crowds in the parking lot, just jump off the train and walk directly into the store!  I also understand where it is in reference to my apartment now.  I was able to pick up a grocery cart in my travels today.  It's going to make shopping a bit easier now.  I was waiting to find one with a color I like.  Check me out with my new wheels!

Chase has been crying each morning when I drop him off at school.  This is really out of character for him.  Last year he and Natalie would jump out of the car, waving goodbye with huge smiles on their faces.  This year, it's very different.  So after school, I stayed and talked to his teacher.  She is so sweet and Chase loves her.  She said he spends his days chatting and telling her all about his school in America and talks about his friends, Jackson, Natalie, Will, Simon etc.  She mentioned that Chase is the only child in the class that speaks English.  Well... that might explain it.  She said that once he settles down, he loves it there and talks a lot.  She loves it because she has someone to talk to also.  :)

Lots of adjustments!!!!  Smith had his second practice today with is team.   He told Steve and I that he was going to quit soccer because he didn't want to play on this team.  After much prodding, we realized it was because of the language barrier.  He was feeling lost and left out.  We told him to try it one more day, if he still didn't like it, he didn't have to play.  After practice, he came home with a huge smile on his face saying how much he loved his new team and he wants to keep playing.  It was so cute!!!  Apparently, the coach made a huge effort to help Smith feel welcome and a lot of the boys were including him and helping him with the directions.   :)

Watching my kids struggle with things here has been really tough for me.  With so many nationalities together under one school roof, it requires a lot of flexibility.  There are different customs, different languages, different ways to discipline, different routines... which often pushes them out of their comfort zones.  I know this is great for them and down the road it will make them stronger, but... it's very hard to sit back and let it happen.  I want to fix it and make it perfect for them.  There are moments that they cry and ask to go back home and other times that they are smiling and saying how much they love it here.  

This week has been a tough one for our family.  We lost Steve's grandma to Alzheimer's.  She was an amazing woman and we will miss her so much!  We then got sad news about Steve's dad.  We hate that we are so far away from family during these tough times and wish that we could jump on a plane and be back home in a few short hours.  Please keep Bebop in your prayers as he continues to fight his battle with cancer.  We love you Bebop and Kiki!!!!