Traveling Momma: The Experiment and Routines

Originally, this blog was going to be about my exploration of being home with my kids in a foreign city. As a working mom, this trip is the longest I'll have spent with them non-stop since their maternity leaves, so that's a pretty big deal. But, the travel stories and sightseeing was just way more fun to blog about, so I've neglected it.

And, actually, I've censored out most of the parenting issues that I've been having -- being completed unaccustomed to the role of hands-on parent 24-hours a day, 7-days a week -- guessing that it probably paints me in a bad light.

So, if you want to keep to the travel stuff, I'll post soon about our departure to Milan next that you can skip ahead to. Meanwhile, I'm keeping it real....

My thoughts on being a stay at home mother: not for me. Though, I should append that statement with: not with a 2-year-old and not living in a foreign city with no classes to attend or family/friends to see. But, the experiment was tainted from the get-go. I wanted to learn what it was like to stay at home, but since I'm not technically "home," I'm not getting clean results. So the question will always be there for me.

It's still an experiment in parenting and being with them every second of the day in a strange place. So I'm learning quite a lot about who my kids are and what they're capable of -- which they're learning, too. Leah is narrow-minded (ice cream, ice cream, ice cream) but she's got a memory like a steal trap for things that interest her. And because I've had to rely on her help with Alice, she's taking on a bit of a maternal role (read: bossy). Alice is floundering with no routine. Leah was a handful at 2, and Alice seems to be going that way. She's taken to acting out, running away, tantrums and screaming at us in frustration.

And you can't blame her. The great thing about my kids is that they were always meant to be day-care kids: institutionalized in daily routine. I've seen kids at day care who can't handle it, the routine or separation. My kids thrive on it. Which as made leaving for the office far less complicated, but is now working against me. And imposing a daily routine here just isn't practical or possible. So, now what?

The best I can do is have a daily plan of attack and talk to them about what we're doing next, feed them (they are monsters on empty stomach) and listen to them when they need something (and not just ice cream). I know I'll look back on this as a wonderful adventure spent with my family -- or at least that's what I mumble to myself as I'm strapping a screaming 2-year-old to her stroller in a busy Berlin square. Good times.