That Emotional Roller Coaster Stage

I don't really know what the true Stages of Culture Shock are, but I have come to recognize my own stages.  And sadly, this Emotional Roller Coaster Stage is one that can last a long time.  Today is a great example.  School was supposed to start today, but has been postponed by two days.  So we made some quick plans: because the supposed-to-be-the-first-day nee the-last-two-days-of-summer need some plans.  That is, the household is a bit nervous about the first day of school, and needs to be kept busy and made tired.  So we spent the morning at the pool - good start.  Meals and showers went smoothly afterward.

In the afternoon, the girls brought some friends to @america.  According to their website, @america "is a cutting-edge, 21st-century cultural center where you can explore and experience the United States, and express your thoughts and ideas about America."  They've been showing a Robin Williams tribute film festival for the last few days, and so I took a crew of five kids to watch Night at the Museum.  It was a fun spot, and I teared up a little when Robin Williams' character talked about how he was just a mannequin, and had never done any of the impressive things his character had done.

When the movie finished, the English language club from a local high school came over and asked to take our pictures.  For the most part, my kids were very gracious and these teens were very sweet.  After they left, we played a few rounds of Foosball, ran into the grocery for some chicken and milk, and met the driver just as he pulled up outside.  Little Annika was feeling sick, so I carried a 4 year old in my arms while maneuvering a gaggle of high schoolers wanting to practice their English, a strange mall and a new grocery store all while corraling 4 elementary schoolers.  I'll admit - I was feeling like a superstar.

Traffic was smooth and the kids were happy.  We breezed home.  Until poor Annika's stomach acted up about 5 minutes from home.  She started crying.  Adi began driving faster.  I prepped Lilly to handle closing up the car while I raced Annika up to the apartment before she made a mess of herself and her car seat, and really grossed out that same crew of elementary schoolers.

By the time I had all of my kids upstairs, I was feeling a bit less like a superstar.  That's when I noticed that water had not been delivered.  We can not drink the water here.  We can not wash our vegetables with it.  We can not cook with it.  We can not brush our teeth with it.  And also, we try to drink a lot of it.  So our family goes through a lot of water.  But our house has been void of water bottles since Thursday afternoon.  This is a problem.

I left at noon feeling confident that I would come home to 5 new bottles of water in front of my door.  Instead, I came home to 5 empty bottles of water waiting neatly outside my door, as they had been all afternoon.  So much for pasta for dinner.  And here that superstar feeling disappeared entirely.  The kitchen is still fairly empty, partly because we're new and partly because we're temporary.  Its not full of bits and pieces that I can throw together for a healthy meal.  We have street food within walking distance, but we have not ventured into many of the stalls because of the buckets of muddy water they use to wash their dishes.  With Annika having crawled sick into her bed, we needed something fast and the only restaurants within a few minutes walk are McDonalds and KFC.  I'm embarrassed to admit that we've eaten both within the last week, but pleased to share that the kids didn't feel like eating either one.  Dave arrived home, and announced that he would leave again within 30 minutes to play basketball, so delivery was not an option either.  This rockstar parent was now facing empty cabinets and solo parent bedtime and feeling sad and exhausted.

We pulled dinner together out of bits and pieces in the cabinets and were able to eat as a family before Dave had to leave.  Things have calmed down and become normal again (although I did just yell at my child for standing too close to me, so...).  Things are on the same forward trajectory they have been for the last few weeks, with a few steps backward every so often because a child becomes sick or another child is severely anxious and grumpy, or because I can not find bananas for the life of me.  And hence that emotional roller coaster.  School starts on Wednesday - so curious to see whether the routine calms our lives, or makes them more hectic and unmanageable.  School will be a positive presence, to be sure.  But exhausting, no doubt.