Lizrael Update: babbling about the expat life since 2004
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Zooey update: twelve months
Don’t we know it, Zooey. It’s not easy snagging attention around here. I guess you have a hometown advantage of being the easiest to carry on my back. Just a bunch of koalas after all. It’s not hard to believe a year has gone by – it’s been such a packed year, what with me…
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Bebe update: six years
This is the year, Bebe. The year I start to feel the weight of what it is to raise a daughter. There’s something about this year – kindergarten, the oldest of the gan years, first grade prep, heightened self awareness, heightened emotional intelligence, deeper self expression. Taking more responsibility. Finding love in different places. Volunteering…
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We have a problem.
“Ima, why do adults always look at their phones?” “Oh, I… um… it’s…” Because if you think kids have no self control, you’re kidding yourself. Because adults have no self control. Because it gets lost over time. Because we’re so misguided. Because we’re just awful. Because we adults get addicted to things. Because we are…
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Nettles update: three years
There are three things I know to be true: There are types of self confidence that cannot be bought or therapy’d into you. A kid who is comfortable being choosy about cake is going places. This is going to be one hell of a year. So here we go. The hills are alive… with the…
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Zooey update: eleven months
(See? I told you I’d be up in your face making you crazy-laugh again…) The sun and warmth and faint smell of spring have started to creep up around us and so your winter sniffles and spotty sleep schedule have started to melt away. Literally, right now, we’re on the floor together, you’re up on…
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Zooey update: ten months
There are months when I take a million and a half pictures of you, where I’m up in your face covering you in kisses, where I tickle torture you until you snort. Zooey this was not one of those months because there’s so much going on. But I’ve missed you during late nights at work…
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It’s time to normalize pumping at work.
I work full time, and there are days when I’m in back-to-back meetings all day. There’s never enough time to get my work done, because if I’m not at work, I’m picking up my kids and starting the second half of my day. And when that’s over, preparing for the next one. The reality is…
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Zooey update: nine months
On the one hand, you make your opinions known. My baby ate my homework. On the other hand, you have to constantly watch your back. Good sport. And that’s a lesson in how to survive in your family of six.
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I cry over spilled milk and closing chapters.
I had an unexpected emotional trigger when, as I walked toward the office fridge to grab my pumped milk at 18:45, I saw the fridge door already open, with its glistening empty shelves, and the cleaner standing in front, putting new garbage bags in the trash cans. The office manager had emailed earlier that everything…
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Zooey update: eight months
Durable. Is that a weird way to describe you? Persistent. Attentive. Problem-solving. You’re proving more by the day that you can keep up, especially with Nettles. The thought of the pair of you… well… makes me realize I’m going to need to up my game. In the meantime… stay innocently curious, deliciously cute, with that…
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Another #dinovember, more questions.
“Really, ima. Do you do it?” It was a heavy one, and I’m kinda not sorry that #dinovember 2016 is officially closed… View the album here.
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Zooey update: seven months
Zooey, No joke – you’ve made it clear. You may be four, but you’ve given me a run for my money. This doesn’t get easier just because you’ve done something similar before. Going back to work has been extremely difficult – that has always been the case – but your refusal to take a bottle…
Questions? Comments? Advice?