So we're on the final stretch of waiting to move to Oz. I say 'we', but Sonny (husband/dad/laundry-doer extraordinaire) has already gone on ahead to be with his parents who aren't doing that well and need him. I'm so glad he's there to help them and hopefully set up for our arrival a little bit but, ooof it's been hard getting everything sorted at home alone.
I've had quite a few messages from people on my insta asking me to blog about the move, and I was going to start earlier, but truth be told, until now I've had almost zero time to write anything. Or in fact space left in my brain. I feel like I've got a million tabs open. Everywhere I look there are things that need putting in suitcases, squirrelling into boxes or taking to charity. There are medical records to get, vaccine passports, visas, Aussie Embassy travel-declaration-thingys to sort (I should probably look that one up properly) plus coping with a toddler and an autistic 8yr old who are both in their own ways going through major anxiety about moving. It has been really, really hard. Packing up a life is A LOT.
I knew things wouldn't be plain sailing, but it's been insane just how neurotic, and damn right PISSED OFF the kids are at us for 'ruining their lives' and moving them to the 'OTHER SIDE OF THE STINKING PLANET' - Woody (aged 8). Essie (3) who I thought wouldn't even get the concept of moving and would've just been excited about kangaroos and possums has said things like 'BUT I DON'T WANT ANYONE ELSE MOVING INTO MY HOUSE AND PUTTING THEIR BUM IN MY BED! *WAHHH' (I actually hear her on that *vom*) and Woody has basically told me he's not going. He's absolutely bereft about leaving his friends and cousins. He's been in a rage since we told him and is blaming his almost complete shut down of manners, cooperation and happiness on us forcing him to move. So all in all, it's been Funtimes 'round our place.
Over the coming weeks i'll try and write a bit about what it's like for us as a family navigating so much change with an autistic child and preschooler in tow, so check back if you want to see how it's all going. I'm currently struggling with flashbacks of the last time we flew to Australia as a family. Woody had developed a new special interest in plane crashes just in time for the flight.
Yup. Plane crashes.
That combo is as close as you can get to a black comedy unfolding at 30,000 feet. I've got a morbid fear of flying so this special interest was EXCELLENT timing. He spent the whole 24hrs of the flight simulating PLANES CRASHING on his ipad game over and over and over again, every violent explosion seen from the corner of my eye, whilst talking incessantly about the statistical probability of the plane going down. There were also more than quite a few (very loud) chats about terrorism, bombs in the hold and aborted landings.
I still have the grey hairs from that flight. And the ulcer.
So you could say I'm not looking forward to the flight. Or the next few weeks trying to manage my anxiety and the kids' anxiety. Or sort the million trillion things on my To Do list. Or even manage all the laundry alone. (I did say Sonny was the laundry-doer, right? And the middle-of-the-night-child-soother. And the organised, level-headed, 'let's file this paperwork properly' one - Jeez I miss him.) I did get one thing ticked off my list though; 'Get Matching Tats With the Twin Sis Before I Go'. Because PRIORITIES.
See you on the next blog instalment (if I have time, obvs)....
Yin-Yang twins
My sister went first. I pretended I'd changed my mind once she'd got hers. Lol.
God i'm gonna miss winding her up.
The finished tattoos. We got matching anchors to hold us steady and root us back home. *SOB*
Thanks to Dave at Love Hate Social Club for the ink, and listening to us moan about how much we're gonna miss each other. And how much I'm not going to miss Boris Johnson.
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