It’s crazy to think, but we’ve been a suburban family officially for a month already. I’ll admit that I was completely freaked out when we moved. The only “mom” life I know is one in the city. I know how to quickly fold a stroller while holding a baby so we can hop onto the subway or the bus. I don’t know how to quickly get all three kids buckled in their car seats while sitting in a parking lot with cars driving by. I used to order all of my groceries online in the comfort of my pajamas while the kids watched television. Now I have to tackle the job in an actual grocery store with one kid strapped to me, one in a cart, and the other tagging along right beside me (that’s been one of the most challenging things so far.)
But through all of the challenges, there is one thing that remains the same. I am happy. We are happy. Not that we weren’t happy as a family living in the city. This is a different kind of happy. One that let’s the kids run freely in the backyard giggling as they kick the ball back and forth. A happy that has all five of us in the kitchen talking while I cook dinner and not one person is cramped. A happy that has our neighbors knocking on our door to deliver us fresh baked cookies to welcome us to the neighborhood. Yeah, that kind of happy.
We needed this. Maybe I’m still in the honeymoon phase, but I’ve come to think that this feeling with last for a very long time. Sure I miss the city, but we’ve been back a couple of times since we’ve moved and I love it just as much as I did last month. And while I can’t officially call it my home as in my place of residence, it still feels like a home that I will always cherish.
But here….here feels like home. Our house feels like a home. It’s a feeling I never had when we lived in our apartment. Our evenings are spent on the back porch grilling out for dinner. MacKay and I sit outside with a glass of wine after the kids are in bed and just talk. And it’s magical. Some nights we will let the girls stay up late while we wait for it to get dark to look for lightening bugs. These are the things that I used to do when I was a little girl.
Our weekends are spent with trips to Home Depot and Target (my happy place!!!) We are only miles from the beach and from the lake so we’ve spent nearly every weekend there too. It’s the simple things that every suburbanite is completely used to (and I’m sure some of you are laughing at me now for all of this excitement over this,) but I am loving it all.
The girls are adjusting remarkably. There are several things in their new life that has them very excited. Every time we pull up to the house, Avery yells from her car seat, “That’s my house!!” Just the other day MacKay took them through the car wash and they just about flipped with how “cool” it was. We went on our first family walk through the neighborhood the other night and Harlan shrieked when she saw a mailbox in someone’s front yard telling us that she wants one just like it (ours is on the front of our house next to the front door.) The hose is their new favorite toy and they squeal with joy when I asked them to help me water our plants. It’s like watching them discover the world for the first time and it’s even more fun watching them get to do it together. This move has definitely strengthened their relationship tenfold.
As for me, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. One that I really never knew existed. I’m so much calmer living here. So much more relaxed. It’s the zen that I needed in my life and it came at the perfect moment.
Life can take you on so many adventures. Ones that we aren’t prepared for. Ones that we don’t know are crucial for our lives in order to grow.
This is an adventure I need to take. This is where I need to be.
Right here.
Right now.
Happy.
