I sit here typing in the kitchen of our "hospital house". After several weeks of traveling, unpacking, and getting settled, we are starting to get into a new routine. Ridhwi started work this morning and while I enjoyed the family time we had together, I was ready for things to return to normal, as was Ridhwi.
The last couple of weeks have been great. When we lived in Michigan, I felt as though we were living from one day to the next, sometimes one hour to the next with the thought that "it will get better". These last few weeks I feel I've been experiencing the "better".
We chose Wisconsin because of the people. We interviewed in 6 states and 10 hospitals over the course of six months. Originally we wanted to go somewhere in the south - somewhere warm. When we came to Wisconsin, however, it felt like coming home - like we had been friends with the people here forever and it was the place we wanted to live and raise our family. We have since found out the made the right decision and have experienced numerous acts of everyday kindness: friends and neighbors stopping by to see how we are settling and welcoming us to the area, the post office going out of their way to find my phone number and calling me when I left my iPad there, texts from the very nice couple from the moving company about community events, directions to kid friendly parks and pools, etc., and invites to dinner from new friends. We truly feel welcomed into the fold of this town.
Another big change in our life is that we put an offer on a home and it was accepted! We had the inspection over the weekend and it went well. We are not planning on closing until mid-September because we don't want to move again right away but we are really excited. Our new home will be 40 minutes away from the Hospital where Ridhwi will work. The drive might be difficult for Ridhwi in winter but we both feel the house more than makes up for it - after a few updates (tile in the entry, paint, and some furniture purchases) it will be our dream home. I will post more pictures once we close on it and it is officially ours.
I am feeling "settled" for the first time in our marriage. I've enrolled Amita in piano lessons and plan to enroll in a gymnastics class in the fall. Ashima loves the extra room in the house to run and play and is in high spirits. I'm happy to have room with the kiddos and room for all of our stuff. The two bedroom apartment got REALLY small at the end. One of the things I love most is that we have a back yard and garage area and the kids love to run and play. We also bought a kiddie pool which has been used almost every day.
Since our offer was accepted on the house, I have been giving schooling a lot of thought and trying to honestly evaluate myself in the role of homeschooler. When I did all of my research into schools in the area, I did not include the area to which we will be moving. During the time when we interviewed, it was part of my itinerary to visit the schools (I requested to do so) while Ridhwi was interviewing at the hospital so I felt like I have a good grasp of what the schools in the area are when I decided to homeschool. I did not think they were awful, but I didn't think that a curriculum where children only get one hour of science, recess, art, and social studies a week is ideal. I do not want my children to be able to only take math and english tests, I want them to be able to be free thinkers - and the arts and sciences are necessary for that. To be completely honest and fair to my kids I feel that I need to look into the private and possibly the public school that is close to our new home(I've always thought I wouldn't send them to public school but I've heard positive things from many people in this area). We still have several months on our one year trial and I am planning on trying new things to see if it will help with homeschooling. I'm going to try a new reading curriculum for Amita and I have also emailed a few members of the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point School of Education faculty to see if they could recommend a student in the program who could come for a few hours a couple of times a week to help with homeschooling. This might make things more manageable. One of my biggest struggles is feeling like I have individual time with each kid. Ashima is now ready for some instruction, and Amita is beginning reading readiness and when I try to sit down with one kid the other one whines and wants to join in. The problem is that I can't seem to get anything done when I have both of them, and I have no way to separate them either. I am hoping that trying new curricula and possibly having a little help, as well as looking at the schools in the area where our new home will be will help to give me a more clear path forward. I have been reminded quite often why I chose secondary education instead of early childhood and elementary.
There have been a lot of changes in our lives the last couple of weeks. As a good friend recently said, "The Mukerjis don't do regular moves". It seems to be true. When we do things, we do them in a major way. I think I need to do more research into the new area we will be living in before I come to any firm conclusions about schooling and take each day at a time. The kids are still young and I have time. Until such time, I'll enjoy my babies and take each day as it comes, doing what I can.
The last couple of weeks have been great. When we lived in Michigan, I felt as though we were living from one day to the next, sometimes one hour to the next with the thought that "it will get better". These last few weeks I feel I've been experiencing the "better".
We chose Wisconsin because of the people. We interviewed in 6 states and 10 hospitals over the course of six months. Originally we wanted to go somewhere in the south - somewhere warm. When we came to Wisconsin, however, it felt like coming home - like we had been friends with the people here forever and it was the place we wanted to live and raise our family. We have since found out the made the right decision and have experienced numerous acts of everyday kindness: friends and neighbors stopping by to see how we are settling and welcoming us to the area, the post office going out of their way to find my phone number and calling me when I left my iPad there, texts from the very nice couple from the moving company about community events, directions to kid friendly parks and pools, etc., and invites to dinner from new friends. We truly feel welcomed into the fold of this town.
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| Our "Hospital House". It is a house owned by the hospital provided to us until we are settled. |
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| The girls LOVE having a back yard! |
Another big change in our life is that we put an offer on a home and it was accepted! We had the inspection over the weekend and it went well. We are not planning on closing until mid-September because we don't want to move again right away but we are really excited. Our new home will be 40 minutes away from the Hospital where Ridhwi will work. The drive might be difficult for Ridhwi in winter but we both feel the house more than makes up for it - after a few updates (tile in the entry, paint, and some furniture purchases) it will be our dream home. I will post more pictures once we close on it and it is officially ours.
 |
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| The kids loved it. Amita kept asking to go back to the "other new house". |
I am feeling "settled" for the first time in our marriage. I've enrolled Amita in piano lessons and plan to enroll in a gymnastics class in the fall. Ashima loves the extra room in the house to run and play and is in high spirits. I'm happy to have room with the kiddos and room for all of our stuff. The two bedroom apartment got REALLY small at the end. One of the things I love most is that we have a back yard and garage area and the kids love to run and play. We also bought a kiddie pool which has been used almost every day.
Since our offer was accepted on the house, I have been giving schooling a lot of thought and trying to honestly evaluate myself in the role of homeschooler. When I did all of my research into schools in the area, I did not include the area to which we will be moving. During the time when we interviewed, it was part of my itinerary to visit the schools (I requested to do so) while Ridhwi was interviewing at the hospital so I felt like I have a good grasp of what the schools in the area are when I decided to homeschool. I did not think they were awful, but I didn't think that a curriculum where children only get one hour of science, recess, art, and social studies a week is ideal. I do not want my children to be able to only take math and english tests, I want them to be able to be free thinkers - and the arts and sciences are necessary for that. To be completely honest and fair to my kids I feel that I need to look into the private and possibly the public school that is close to our new home(I've always thought I wouldn't send them to public school but I've heard positive things from many people in this area). We still have several months on our one year trial and I am planning on trying new things to see if it will help with homeschooling. I'm going to try a new reading curriculum for Amita and I have also emailed a few members of the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point School of Education faculty to see if they could recommend a student in the program who could come for a few hours a couple of times a week to help with homeschooling. This might make things more manageable. One of my biggest struggles is feeling like I have individual time with each kid. Ashima is now ready for some instruction, and Amita is beginning reading readiness and when I try to sit down with one kid the other one whines and wants to join in. The problem is that I can't seem to get anything done when I have both of them, and I have no way to separate them either. I am hoping that trying new curricula and possibly having a little help, as well as looking at the schools in the area where our new home will be will help to give me a more clear path forward. I have been reminded quite often why I chose secondary education instead of early childhood and elementary.
There have been a lot of changes in our lives the last couple of weeks. As a good friend recently said, "The Mukerjis don't do regular moves". It seems to be true. When we do things, we do them in a major way. I think I need to do more research into the new area we will be living in before I come to any firm conclusions about schooling and take each day at a time. The kids are still young and I have time. Until such time, I'll enjoy my babies and take each day as it comes, doing what I can.
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