Update from the Road - Europe with young children

Don't have a lot of time to write, as I'm borrowing a friend's computer, but we made it to England safe and sound with minimal difficulties. After two quick days in London, we are now in the tiny village of Nettleham, outside of Lincoln, visiting Emily (co-blogger) and her family. Slowing down to a small town pace is a wonderful way to travel with the kids. We have a little cottage with a kitchen and two bedrooms, so it's much like life at home in terms of daily ritual. Esme naps in her own room, and we prepare meals there or eat at our friends' house. Esme has three-year-old Imogen to run around with, while Emil gets to stare at (and be stared at by) three-month-old Atticus.

It's very interesting being "the American" around town. Emily, who was always "Wonderful English Emily" is just Wonderful Emily now, and I am the foreigner in her land. I've never really thought about what it was like for her living in the States for so long. I don't know if Esme is aware of the differences between the English and the Americans yet. She has picked up on some of the verbal differences. Just today, she was talking about her Nappy Diapers, a phrase that amused me. She is proving to be an adept traveler, as well. While we were slightly afraid she might break down in tears whenever a stranger talked to her, she explained to Jacob the other day how he was going to have to take a train back to London, and that he would have to change trains, which she further explained meant that he would have to get off one train and then get on a different train.

I think preparing her for the trip by discussing each step of it in detail has been tremendously helpful. She knew we were taking a long plane ride and would be staying in a hotel in London, and that we would see a puppet show there. She likewise knew that we would take a train to Nettleham where we would visit friends. Occasionally, she asks me wear we're going next, but other times, she tells me that we're taking another train and a plane to someplace else, and that we have to stay in more hotels and go to a toy store and a beach (both things I had told her we would do at some point).

Well, gotta run now. I'll try to post more later!

Preparing for the big adventure

I am starting to think positively again. But the past few weeks have been difficult, and the idea of packing two very young children around Europe suddenly seemed ludicrous. Of course there was the vomit and the diarrhea at 3 a.m. That didn't help my outlook.

A few weeks ago (the night before Mother's Day), Esme got sick. She was ill for a week, and just as things were getting back to normal, Emil got sick. Another week of fevers, throwing up and constant diarrhea (all very scary things when they are occurring in a 7-month-old). Somewhere in there, Jacob got sick and then I got sick, and it's been just one big illness fest.

When I thought forward to this month-long journey, my stomach clenched. Was I nuts to think this was possible? What if one or all of us were sick on the trip? How were we going to get on the Tube with Esme and Emil? What were we thinking? The echoes of people's shock upon hearing of our trip started reverberating around my head: "Wow. You're brave." Brave, or stupid?

But we've turned a page. Now both kids are healthy. Jacob is healthy. I'm at least on my way to healthy. We leave on Wednesday, and suddenly the fog is lifting. My emotions are switching from frightened and anxious (the bad kind of butterflies) to getting excited, daydreaming about streets that I once roamed and miss, as well as streets I've never seen before (the good kind of butterflies).

Maybe Esme and Emil won't remember any of this trip, but I believe they will be affected by it. They are little sponges right now. They are forming their fundamental understanding of how the world works, how people talk and interact, so exposing them to other cultures will only richen that core world view.

And then there is the ultimate truth of the matter: I need to travel for me, not for them. They are just too young to be away from me for that long, so they have to come along because I absolutely have to go. There's a reason I used to run a website called Travelfiend.com. Traveling fulfills something deep inside. It's a passion that helps make me who I am, and I can't quelch it.

I know that I have gone through some serious transitions since having children. There are times that I feel like my soul explodes with happiness, and other moments that my soul feels like it's lost touch with its passions. There is so much that is all about the children: growing them in the womb, feeding them, cleaning them, making their first experiences of this world as magical as possible, it is all very positive. But then there are those moments when I sit back and think, "I had other interests before having kids. What were those again?" And I wonder how the passions that used to define who I was were all pushed to the wayside, discarded like old clothes.

I'm trying not to lose my old passions. I rediscover them in the closet of my mind and pull them out to look at them in the sunlight. I hope you are all trying to hold onto your passions, too. It can be difficult sometimes, but it's doable. I think traipsing about London and Barcelona with two babes will be difficult at times, but overall it will be amazing. An experience that we will remember forever. Yes, I'm able to be optimistic again. Just please pray for me that none of us get sick.