Tonight's family meeting had four items on the agenda.
1. If you want an iPhone app that costs money, you have to pay for it with your allowance money.
2. Everyone is doing a kickass job helping mommy and aba with the move. Kudos.
3. No licking your friends. It passes germs. (And there will be plenty of time for that later).
4. After the baby's born and after summer camp, we're moving to Israel.
Now we fully expected a total and complete multi-party meltdown after we dropped this bomb. Because we have talked to the kids before about the possibility of moving to Israel and our son has mostly responded negatively. As in, no way in hell. I want to be with Heather and Aly in first grade. I want to move to Orange County and live with Grandma in a house with stairs. I don't want to go to school where everyone speaks Hebrew. I don't want it to be nighttime when it's daytime for Grandma. I don't want to carry a gun (I don't know where he picked that one up, but unfortunately that's a valid concern).
This is how that part of the conversation went.
Me: ...our whole family is moving to Israel.
Him: And Grandma too?
Me: No, Grandma is staying here. But she'll visit us and we'll visit her.
Pause
Him: We'll have to redo the settings on your iPhone I bet.
Me: Right. You could be very helpful to mommy with your expertise.
Him: And the plugs are different there. I'd have to practice putting in the the two round holes instead of the two rectangular slots.
Me: That's true. But we could bring all of your old electricity stuff and you could show your new friends how different electricity is in America.
Him: Ya. And there's really big slides in Israel.
Me: In every city.
Him: And I can go to work with Saba and Savta.
Me: Yes. And maybe some of our friends will come to visit us!
Her: And have a sleep over!
This was the abridged version. The original dialogue was heavy on the iPhone settings and the new phone number and calling people in the middle of the night which will be daytime for them, and the video chat feature that my phone has and Aly's dad's phone has. I figured I should just let him talk about iPhone settings for as long as he needed to process this whole thing. I'm sure this isn't the end of the conversation since there's another six months until it happens, but considering how worried we were about telling them, this was a stellar beginning.
10 comments:
worth staying up for. priceless!
~ i'm so excited for your decision to make the leap this january!! i'm excited for your family & the funky things you'll find at the FLEA MARKET & the lattes & the many hilarious things you mentioned! i'm so inspired by it all... i want to get my house all "pottery barn" ready to sell & go somewhere i fit in, where the pros outweigh the cons, where it really feels right.
you are giving birth to some many lovely things! it's amazing to witness. the word verification is "blessl." how perfect!
xo,
carissa
this is the perfect age for your kids to move! they'll bounce back like rubber balls. i, however, am too old to suffer your departure. i'm going to miss you like crazy!
Hilarious. I would expect the same conversation to take place in my house. We are attempting to switch public schools for next year and if we "win" the lottery, I'd guess we'd get a similar reaction. Not sure how the iPhone would be linked to that, but I'd bet my life Julian could create the link.
Although I have felt inspired by your family meetings, I haven't yet pulled it off. I did proactively explain new chores/responsibilities in advance of expecting them to participate. So far, so good. We might need a family meeting to seal the deal, though. I'm not your kids, but I think you are doing an amazing job.
this might be my favorite post ever from you. #3 made me howl. And your boy's immediate concern about the iphone? You ca't make that stuff up. I am really loving this new chapter in your family's life. I think it's gonna be some goooooood readin'
yet, somehow, I still feel like I'm going to miss you. How does THAT make any sense at all?
Your son is on top of things... When moving, the most important piece is the mobile phone and its settings...
Get Grandma an iPhone and video chat will keep them happy, my kids use it all the time to talk to Grandma and Grandpa, and they only live in LA.
When we told Aaron (he was 8) we were going to leave the Kibbutz and move to Vancouver where he would be closer to Savta and Saba, He thought about it for a few minutes and then proceeded to give us many (good) reasons why we would be crazy to leave Israel in general and Kibbutz in particular. Kids are so very smart, and they help us work though our insecurities, but luckily for all us parents, they are very adaptable. It took Aaron a few months to see the good in the big changes we were about to make, but his input even at age 8 was so helpful.
A few more family meetings and they will be organizing the move for you and telling you what a good idea they came up with!
hmph. i threw my iPhone when i heard the news. cleary, i'm taking it much harder than your boy wonder. but i'm still happy for you and all. i think.
wow wow wow! I just read this post, and learned about your move!! So exciting, I better go back and read your announcement post. Now I know what you meant when you wrote on my blog that you'd make a similar announcement soon. I'm thrilled for you, and obviously all about making big move that involve following your heart. So happy for you!!
I keep waiting for our kids to have some tough reactions to our planned move, but so far none yet, fingers crossed!
OMG I LOVE it! hahahaha :) So sweet. Did it make you feel like you were definitely making the absolute right choice for all of you? Sweetness.
Post a Comment