I remember how shocked I was when I learned how much childcare would cost us. Daycare for the two girls was about as much as our mortgage per month – and we weren’t alone. This article from Yahoo! Finance is one of many that describe the daycare situation around 2015 when my kids were born.
Blogtober Challenge: Days 15-18
Please be aware that this blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost for you). What do you do when stress gets to you? Managing stress and cultivating routines for self-care has become a big business of late. If
Blogtober Challenge: Days 13 & 14
The 13th was a lazy day, but somehow I still couldn’t find the energy (or the words) to finish and publish a blog post. The kids got through half a week of school after our marathon flight back from the States. We have a three day weekend, due to a holiday on Monday to remember
Blogtober Challenge: Day 12
American expats, are you planning to vote in the upcoming election? I don’t know about you, but I’m keen to exercise my civic right from the other side of the world. My Twitter and Instagram feeds are clogged with the descent into chaos that has been our political discourse, and each cringe-worthy day is challenging
Blogtober Challenge: Days 10 & 11
I was not able to publish a post yesterday; my energy was dedicated to dealing with condo renovation frustrations back in the States after catching up on sleep and some quiet time in the mani/pedi chair. I wasn’t nearly as distressed about missing a day as I was the first time, but I’ve had bigger
Blogtober Challenge: Day 9
Things were so crazy last week that I really haven’t spent much time reflecting on the time I got to spend with family and friends. We made this trip back for a friend, a fact that has elicited comments from other American expats along the lines of, “Must be a good friend. I wouldn’t do
Blogtober Challenge: Day 8
This challenge has not been easy. In so many ways it has shown me how complicated it is to blog as a parent. Children are complete wildcards and have this innate power to render plans irrelevant – well my children do. It is also true that writing is a time-consuming process for me. I have
Blogtober Challenge: Days 4-7
It’s really terrible when you realize that a carefully thought out plan isn’t going to work. When I decided to participate in Blogtober, I knew that the first week would be rough. The circumstances were far from my normal routine and environment. Although I pre-planned some content a couple of weeks before the month began,
Blogtober Challenge: Day 3
Traveling isn’t always all that it’s cracked up to be. People spend time talking about the experiences, the culture, the food, and all the other stuff that gets romanticized. That is real, but sometimes travel is just hard. Real talk, sometimes you get sick, you lose luggage, you’ve got to change plans, you don’t get
Blogtober Challenge: Day 2
The desynchronosis, or jet lag, is hitting one of the kids really hard. Desynchronosis is so much more fun to say compared to jet lag; I think I may stick with that one. What this means is that I’ve been awake since about 1:00 a.m. EST with my kid who slept from about 2:00 in