EXPECTATION MANAGEMENT

This blog has been looming over me since we knew of our impending departure. What should I do? What should I say? Should I write it, but never hit “post”? Will I regret never writing anything?

I loved keeping the blog while we were in Germany, and I love the very detailed references that it has given us for a time in our lives we still hold so dear. But it was also time consuming.

Despite having reread so many of those German entries time and time again, I hardly recognize the person I used to be. To be perfectly unhumble, I’m amazed by my former (written) self. I’m not sure I can be that person again. We are so different now than we were the day we departed for Germany, and healthy change should always be holding hands with shifting expectations.

So I’m going to manage my personal expectations, and I would plead of you to manage yours as well.

I used to lug around an 8lb DSLR in an attempt to capture our adventures with an artistic flair. Now, I have an 8 pound newborn to carry around, so low-quality cell phone pictures will have to suffice. I used to have plenty of spare time to sit behind the keyboard and wait for inspiration to strike. Now I have a six-year-old taking drum lessons, and my spare time is spent figuring out exactly which drum he is supposed to strike. (Why are there so many to choose from?!?!) I used to spend hours reading- travel books, travel magazines, travel websites. Now I read the same picture book over and over again because my three-year-old (who has a brain like a sponge) is memorizing every word. After read-through #64, she retells the story herself.

Life looks a lot different than it did 10+ yrs ago, and I am so incredibly grateful for it. Soooo…expectation management. Between school runs and more demanding professional expectations, between dirty diapers and play dates, all while keeping those damn white school uniform shirts white…I’m going to give this a go! Won’t you ride along with me? (yes…that is indeed a Daniel Tiger song)!

^{THIS IS WHAT HAVING A BABY VIA GESTIONAL CARRIER LOOKS LIKE. ELATION! (photo credit: Christine Wright)}

Reminisce about the good ol’ days at www.wallsingermany.com