What do the kids think of the imminent move?

Reality is setting in. In ten days we will be moving out of our home into temporary accommodation, so our furniture can be loaded on a ship and set sail to Africa. 

A lot of you have asked how our boys have reacted to news of the move. Perhaps the stories below best answer that question.

1. Apparently FaceTime solves all problems!:

Our eldest son, Mitch (7 years), has a great group of peers in his Grade 2 year. Mitch is our most gregarious child, and he LOVES his friends.  One day last week though, we found him in tears on his bed. ‘I don’t want to leave Singapore’ he wept, with a piercing look in his eyes that clearly signalled the target of his blame (us!). After some consolation and reflection, the following conversation took place…

“Mom & Dad, I have a proactive plan,” says Mitch assertively.

 (Much to my delight, he is busy learning Covey's ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ from his incredible teacher. ‘Be Proactive’ is one of them).

“Dad, you go back to Durban with Jonty and Hudson to do your job. Mom and I will stay in Singapore till Grade 12, then we will follow you to South Africa.”

(Ten years later! That’s his plan?!)

I had to hold in my laughter. Tony, also struggling to contain his amusement at this grand plan, asks “My boy, what about family time? I will miss you”.

Mitch has a serious look on his face and proudly responds: “I have thought about that too, because I knew you’d say that. I have a solution. It’s actually easy.  We can just…. FaceTime!”. His face lights up at his problem-solving abilities.

Well that solves that then!

2. Father Christmas moonlights as a furniture removals guy!:

Jonty (5 years) also had a pearler the other day.  We were driving home from church, and were explaining how all our things would be packed up soon and put on a ship to Durban. Tone explained to the boys that they wouldn’t see their toys for about 6 weeks, but that it would be like Christmas when all our boxes arrived in South Africa.

From the rear view mirror, I can see Jonty thinking carefully about all this. 

“So will Father Christmas come in the night and one morning will we wake up with all our toys and stuff in our room?”

We wish that were the case! So cute. How entreprenurial of Father Christmas to run a global moving business in his off season months!

3. From Captain Happy to Captain Grumpy!:

Hudson, our normally independent, cheerful, 3 year old is battling to articulate his thoughts and feelings about the move. He seems to be quite anxious about it, and doesn't want to go anywhere! Captain Grumpy just wants to stay and play at home, as he says, "by my own". It’s pretty exhausting. 

Ms Guia with Hudson & the Pirate Ship under construction. 

We are having to be super creative and think of “hooks” to get him out the house. Rather than drive, we braved the MRT (public train) to school in rush hour for the first time the other day as a lure to get Hudson into his school clothes and out the house.  Another day, we even painted rocks as paper weights to give to his beloved teacher, Ms Guia, as a gift. Anything to distract him! This week, between home and school, we are beginning to make a Pirate Ship with recycled materials so we can hopefully get him excited about going to school to add to his special project. Ms Guia and the school librarian have also sent some excellent story books home to help us through this time. Any other suggestions of books or ideas would be most welcome.  Last night at dinner, Hudson clung to the last of the cookies he had helped bake stating that he ‘wanted to keep it for the aeroplane’! He is acutely aware of the imminent move, but age-appropriately, does not have a firm grasp of the concept or time-frame itself.

Please pray for all our boys. It's a huge transition for them. My prayer is that God will give us the strength and patience to be both a 'safe harbour*', as well as a 'good boss*', during this time as the reality of the move sets in. 

Some of our current bed time books.

 *Recently read The Discipline Miracle by Dr Linda Pearson. She writes about what she considers to be the 3 most important principles of parenting: Be a safe harbour, Be a good boss and Prepare your kids for the real world. 

‘One more time, we’re gonna celebrate!’

Many of you have kindly asked how the packing is going.

In short…. it’s not!

But thank you for asking anyway.

So what have I been doing?

Tone would say procrastinating. Rubbish I retort. I’m doing what I love to do. CELEBRATING! (one more time…)

(Apologies if you have Daft Punk’s ‘One More Time’ playing in your head. It’s my anthem at the moment.)

A little over a week ago,  we celebrated Mitch’s 7^th birthday, and Tone’s 40^th in Krabi, Thailand; which we sadly suspect will be our last Asian getaway before returning home.

This past week, we celebrated National Women’s Day.  In South Africa,  the 9^th of August every year is a public holiday set aside to celebrate women and the role they have played in the democracy of the country.  

We have also been celebrating Singapore’s 51^st birthday, the anniversary of independence from Malaysia and its emergence as the Republic of Singapore in 1965.  The streets are adorned with flags for weeks leading up to the public holiday, many shops celebrate by having promotions offering 51% off,  and the actual day (the 9^th August)is super festive. The majority of the nation wears red and white. There is a grand national day parade culminating in a spectacular fireworks show. Singapore celebrates in style! And now that the country has its first ever Olympic gold medal thanks to the remarkable Joseph Schooling (who beat out our very own Chad le Clos and the legendary Michael Phelps in the 100m butterfly), I suspect the festivities will continue well into the month ahead!

One of our cycles from East Coast to Gardens by the Bay.

On National Day this past Tuesday,  for just “one more time”, we cycled from East Coast Park to Gardens by the Bay. It’s my favourite thing to do as a family in Singapore, with spectacular views of Gardens by the Bay, the iconic Marina Bay Sands and the Singapore Flyer. We cycle to the ‘Satay by the Bay’ Hawker Centre, for delicious satay and fresh mango juice.

I will miss this. In fact there are many things that I will miss about Singapore. We have been doing a number of things  “one more time”, celebrating all that Singapore has offered.

Tones and I walked through the Botanical Gardens one evening last week ‘one more time’. I have spent hours and hours in the beautiful Singapore Botanical Gardens. When we first arrived, I remember squeezing all three boys into our double pram and going for long walks. A sanity saver! We now take them there to run around and expend their boundless energy.  Another outing we love doing (for similar reasons), is walking from Labrador Park to Keppel Bay. The boys zoom ahead of us on their scooters and always arrive home exhausted & ready for a nap. Bliss!

This past weekend, we went to Universal Studios one more time. I’m nervous that watching and listening to the boys (including the hubby) squeal with delight as they hurtle upside down on some crazy rollercoaster ride is a prelude to the adrenalin junkie activities that lie ahead for me as a mother of 3 boys as they continue to grow! (To our new Singapore friends, it’s worthwhile to get a Universal Studios annual pass - you have to go 2.5 times to get value for your money).

We celebrated the end of the summer vacation with an outing to Benjamin Browns at The Forum in Orchard Rd for their famous OTT milkshakes! Take a look at these…

The new school year officially starts tomorrow. Mitch moves to Grade 1, Jonty to Kindergarten 2 and Hudson to Pre-K. We are all excited. It’s been wonderful having the boys with me for almost ten weeks, but I will indeed celebrate surviving the holiday.

After school drop-off, I can really put my head down and, you know, focus on PACKING!

“One more time, we’re gonna celebrate!”

W I D E  A W A K  E!  And it’s 2 am. 

Is it excitement? Nervousness? Jet lag?

We have just returned from a month’s holiday in beautiful South Africa. My heart is happy and full after catching up (albeit way too briefly) with beloved family and friends. Such special times – mid-winter swims in the Indian ocean, "bundu bashing" with our boys through the Natal midlands, flying high over Johannesburg in the Hyundai balloon…the list could go on and on!

And that is why my heart beats a little faster at the thought of our next "Trek". 

I am not talking about Trek Bikes, or Star Trek. For those who don't know, “trek” is an Afrikaans word referring to a big move. In the history of our country, the 'Great Trek' marked a period of time when many adventurous Afrikaner farmers moved away from the Cape Colony to establish their own colonies. This was a first step in establishing their independence.

As a family we made a 'Great Trek' three years ago in moving to Singapore. What an incredible opportunity it has been. Largely because my gorgeous husband has prioritised life experience and travelling. We have been to places I would never have dreamed of going - Cambodia, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Batu Batu, Nikoi, Malaysia, Bali, Thailand, Maldives, Boracay, Australia and even New Zealand. 

But now, the time has come and we are about to make another Great Trek. We are moving back to South Africa. 

My soul is singing, my heart is weeping. 

Weeping to think of what we leave behind, and more importantly, who we leave behind. 

Awesome community. Friends from Redemption Hill Church, Bukit Timah Mom's Group, our Gallop Gables condo, Stamford American International School, BSF and RBR - I will miss you all. How will I ever manage to stay in touch amidst the busyness of everyday life? 

Hence the idea of writing this blog. Thanks to my remarkable sister-in-law Jaci Mun-Gavin for the inspiration (if you haven’t read her book or blog, I strongly suggest you do - theparentingwebsite.com)

This may be my only post. As Tones gently pointed out, I didn’t even manage to send out a Christmas newsletter last year, how on earth will I manage to write a regular blog? Especially when we are about to move countries. 

What he forgets, is that Deborah Jane loves to procrastinate, and that writing a blog is far more FUN than sorting through cupboards and packing up!

Till the next post, don’t hold your breath. But please do spare a prayer for us as we navigate this next adventure. Thanks friends. 

  

With love, 

Deb