Matt pointed out that our last two posts have been about food. Guess we think about eating a lot! But there is a lot more, of course: potty training, career “management” (photoshoot!) and - the big one - logistics.
The dichotomy of our lives is perfectly captured in those first two: potty-training and a photoshoot. We had an incredible 5-hour photoshoot with Glenn Fajota earlier this week, glamorous and fun and full of beautiful clothes and lights and props. (We should see the pictures today! I’m so excited!!) And then, a few days ago, Henry took a huge leap forward in the potty-training area, so we’ve been super-focused on that.
I promise I’ll write more about both topics soon, but first let me give you a glimpse into the next few weeks of our life on the road. It goes a little something like this:
April 15th: After six weeks in Norfolk, we relocate to Richmond and live with B’s folks while finishing two weekends of Virginia Opera performances.
30th: relocate to Charlotte, SC, area for a week to stay with my folks while...
May 3-6: B goes to NYC for a concert.
8th-ish: Back to Richmond for a week before...
13th: We relocate to St. Louis, MO, where B will be singing in The Kiss at OTSL. Stay here mostly uninterrupted for six weeks, except...
23-26: ACB goes to NYC for a concert.
After we finish in St. Louis, we’re really not sure what’s happening. If our sublettors in NYC want to stay for an extra month, we might take our time heading back north. It’s always nice to have someone else pay your rent, right? We don’t have work in the NYC-area until August, so we *could* stay away most of the summer, but we will have been on the road for a long time by then. I’m thinking we’ll be ready to go home.
I’m going to start packing up this afternoon, hoping to send a big suitcase back to Richmond with B’s parents, who are coming to see the show tonight. A couple days ago I looked around the apartment here and realized we had things in every nook and cranny - as if we lived here! Six weeks is long enough that we start to feel like this is home. Henry gets bored and needs his toys rotated; the fridge has rotten leftovers in it; everyone is missing a sock or two.
I’m not looking forward to the feeling of vagrancy that will hang over our heads for the next few weeks, but it’s part of the life. B & I are aleady talking about “survival strategies,” how to make sure we stay connected as a family amid the chaos. Schedules and routines (or rhythms, as we try to call them) will be crucial, making sure that each day (or week) contains many of the same elements at approximately the same times. A little anchor in the upheaval.
Daily, we prefer that our rhythm go something like this: breakfast, play
out-of-the-house activity
lunch
quiet time (naps seem to be dwindling in frequency...)
tv time, books
running around like a crazy child
dinner
bath/books/bed
Not that involved, right? But harder than you’d think, trying to maintain that in a new place with new people and new beds and new things all the time. We’re all getting better about it, but it takes work. Not so much work, maybe, as forethought.
Weekly, we aim for a mix of out-of-the-house activities: museums, libraries, bounce houses, zoos and aquariums, gardens and farmers markets, hikes and bike rides. B is great about researching a new area to see what is available, and we’ve found some truly special and memorable places and things in our travels. The Hanover farmer’s markets, unforgettable tonkatsu in Tokyo, a wildlife safari outside Palm Beach, FL, and, most recently, the splash park at the Norfolk Botanical Garden. (The top picture was taken there yesterday, when B & I taught Henry how to roll down a hill! Always best to teach by example, right?)
As nervous as we may be about the upcoming disorder and disarray, I am excited to see what new discoveries we’ll make. New places for a new family experience, new memories, new people.
No comments:
Post a Comment