March 26, 2012
Guten Tag (Good day)! We had an exciting weekend! We went to
Schwetzingen Schloss, which is a palace with a beautiful garden. The garden in
August is much prettier then now (March), but the kids didn’t care about the
lack of flowers, greenery and water in the fountains. The garden is huge, and takes
hours to go through. The kids loved running around, seeing the birds, and just
being outside.
Sunday we stayed home, and played on the farm. Almost
everything is closed on Sundays in Germany. Especially grocery stores, clothing
stores, etc. Gas stations are open, and a few restaurants open later in the
day. Fortunately we had just enough food to get us through the day, and Monday
morning! J
Today, I had my breaking point… L Steven can be strong willed. Almost everything is a
fight with him.
At this particular time, the girls were riding with Dave,
and I was following him in my car with Steven. As I was driving down the
autobahn, I looked at Steven and noticed he had taken off his seatbelt. I
flashed my lights at Dave. We were going to pull over at a rest stop. When we
got to the rest stop there was only one parking space. Dave continued on the
highway, but I had to stop and strap Steven back in. Steven was putting up a
fight!!!
Then I hit a point of no return…and broke down.
It wasn’t just this one incident that brought me to tears…
it was the fact that everything “easy” in life, is now Hard! Things I wouldn’t
have thought twice about are now difficult and stressful.
As I was sitting alongside the autobahn, crying, I couldn’t
help but ask myself …
“What am I doing?” “Why am I here?” “Really?… 5 months?”
I wiped my tears, put on my big girl pants, buckled my
little man into his car-seat, and surprisingly I felt a lot better. J
When I got home I found comfort in talking to my husband, and telling him what
to say in order to make me feel better.
It is difficult not having adult conversation all day…
everyday. It is very different
living in a country, compared to being on vacation. I have 3 children to care
for. I’m in a small German town and most people only speak German. Grocery
shopping is a nightmare because I can’t read German. I want to pick up my phone
and call my friends but I can’t.
I’m not looking for sympathy. I am trying to portray my
exact experiences, and emotions. In a few weeks, I will be a pro German grocery
store shopper! J
These are all things that I expected. I knew I would have to adapt to my ‘new’
life. It is a slow process but I am getting more comfortable everyday. I am
looking forward to the lessons in life I will find through this journey.
You are doing GREAT Kendra. Just breathe, do some crying and maybe get a hold of some German wine/beer. Every day will be easier!! You are a BA! (bad a...)
ReplyDeleteKendra I feel the same way Tammy does. You are strong, and you know you are strong. We all have moments. Yes Get some good German wine. It will get easier, I know easy for me to say. I love you, and I think about all of all the time. We are learning from.
ReplyDeleteLove Mom
Kendra Woman...you are amazing! Right now, I feel as if I can't even handle 3 small kids in the US :) ...so I can't fathom how you're doing it! But you ARE doing it and you will cherish this experience...I've got much respect lady!
ReplyDeleteSorry, we never got a chance to get together before you left! but so thankful you started this blog! How awesome! Will very much be looking forward to reading your posts! We are all thinking of you guys! and yeah, I third the German beer and/or wine! ;) Love ya girl!