Each member of our family has found a different way to cope with the stress and impending change brought on by the move.
Jeremy is a brilliant packer and I love to see him throw himself into GET STUFF DONE mode. This man can pack a house like nobody's business. It's glorious. Packing is one of my least favorite tasks in the whole world, and it is a considerable weight off my chest to know that Jeremy will pull through, always, every time.
I am focusing on the finish line, as I've had to do before. It's what keeps me from sitting down on the floor and bursting into tears amidst piles of give away/take to the US/send on to Finland/throw away/recycle. Because it's not enough to move: the Palmers have to complicate it by moving from one country to another by way of spending the summer in a totally different country. (In 2010, we moved from the US to the UAE but spent the intervening summer in Egypt.)
Miriam is sailing along, happy as can be. I have actually noticed an improvement in her attitude, disposition, and personal responsibility lately. She's finally getting the cold climate she's pined for in every school assignment since KG2. Really - every time there's a "what do you miss about your home country" or "where would you like to live" or "where did you spend your summer vacation" prompt, there's always a line about cold winters, snow, or summers that aren't too hot. Bless that child.
Now, Magdalena. Our special little girl who feels things so deeply. She is coping by creating. She loves projects and in the past few days as we've begun to seriously pack and sell off some possessions, she has shifted into overdrive. The other day after school, she made a drum set out of sticks, pencils, electrician's tape, and old LOST DVDs. Yeah. I meant to take a picture of it before I dismantled it, but I forgot, so here are the main drum portions.
Then today, she came with us to the bank. There was a display of pamphlets on different bank products. She took one of each, brought them home, and very industriously stapled them together into one large book. !!!!
Sterling is coping by strewing random objects around the house, as is his wont, even when we aren't moving. It's not my favorite stage, that's for sure.
And that's how we're coping.
