The three of us have varying forms of jet lag. One-third of the travelers seem to be over the brunt of it while the other third dictates whether my third gets over the jet-lag sooner than later. Not much has changed in Shanghai. It's just as hot when we left in June, school started and we are trying to get back into our groove. Finding that groove is giving me some Shang-lag. I feel like I am moving in slow motion (which may not be so good in a city of 24 million people).
Every day is getting more clear, more productive and hopefully a little more sleep-filled and the lag will become Shanghai-days. But with the Jewish Holidays coming up and our next big trip to Israel in just three short weeks I have a feeling I'll be lagging while my other two-thirds are pulling me (hopefully in the same direction and not crying at the same time).
Monday, August 31, 2015
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Jet Lag Buffet
In case you are interested the jet lag is in full affect, as expected. A little different hours than coming to the States but the same in that people are awake when we don't want them to be.
The Jet Lag Buffet is open as some people here have fallen asleep from 4:30pm-12am, not having eaten dinner. On our menu this evening was a request for peanuts, in a bowl not the bag, a banana, water and an Ego pancake. For my buffet it was Dunkin Hines brownies (with chocolate chips) and coffee.
This child spent a good part of the morning trying on all of her new shoes.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
The Jet Lag Buffet is open as some people here have fallen asleep from 4:30pm-12am, not having eaten dinner. On our menu this evening was a request for peanuts, in a bowl not the bag, a banana, water and an Ego pancake. For my buffet it was Dunkin Hines brownies (with chocolate chips) and coffee.
This child spent a good part of the morning trying on all of her new shoes.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, August 27, 2015
And We're Back
These two pictures pretty much sum up out return. Jet-lagged and up early admiring the technology of street sweeping here in Shanghai.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Whack-a-Mole
I remember fondly spending time as a child at Long Beach Island and going to Fantasy Island for rides and arcade games. One of the games we played, aside from skee-ball, was *whack-a-mole. It was a test of my agility and coordination.
Fast forward 20+ years, when I was pregnant with our second child a friend shared with me this advice: If both kids are crying at the same time, pay attention the child who has the more pressing/urgent issue. Obviously the most pressing or urgent issue is debatable. Taking that advice, I felt I would address the child who's crying I could curtail faster.
In the past 16 months I noticed early on that, thankful, I did not have to practice this advice so frequently which has led me to the development of my "One Child Crying at a Time Policy" (OCCTP). This policy has taken a life on of it's own in our home. Our daughter was colic for the first 16 weeks of her life. Thankfully our son thought it was cute and did not cry much when she was crying (shocking behavior for a 3 year old, I know). When things leveled out with the colic I noticed that one kid would cry, we'd calm down and the other would start they would not often be crying at the same time. At first I felt like I was playing whack-a-mole, get one kid down before the other one pops up. For some reason continuous crying didn't seem has hard than both kids crying at the same time.
OCCTP has been self imposed on my kids, for the most part. The other day both kids were standing at the screen door, crying together with their hands against the screen calling my name as I was taking the garbage to the curb. In my head I was thinking keep walking but in my heart I knew I could calm them down, eventually, and thank god they don't cry at the same time often.
*In case you are unfamiliar with the game: an arcade game in which players use a mallet to hit toy moles, which appear at random, back into their holes.
Fast forward 20+ years, when I was pregnant with our second child a friend shared with me this advice: If both kids are crying at the same time, pay attention the child who has the more pressing/urgent issue. Obviously the most pressing or urgent issue is debatable. Taking that advice, I felt I would address the child who's crying I could curtail faster.
In the past 16 months I noticed early on that, thankful, I did not have to practice this advice so frequently which has led me to the development of my "One Child Crying at a Time Policy" (OCCTP). This policy has taken a life on of it's own in our home. Our daughter was colic for the first 16 weeks of her life. Thankfully our son thought it was cute and did not cry much when she was crying (shocking behavior for a 3 year old, I know). When things leveled out with the colic I noticed that one kid would cry, we'd calm down and the other would start they would not often be crying at the same time. At first I felt like I was playing whack-a-mole, get one kid down before the other one pops up. For some reason continuous crying didn't seem has hard than both kids crying at the same time.
OCCTP has been self imposed on my kids, for the most part. The other day both kids were standing at the screen door, crying together with their hands against the screen calling my name as I was taking the garbage to the curb. In my head I was thinking keep walking but in my heart I knew I could calm them down, eventually, and thank god they don't cry at the same time often.
*In case you are unfamiliar with the game: an arcade game in which players use a mallet to hit toy moles, which appear at random, back into their holes.
Friday, August 21, 2015
Going Back to the Future
We are winding down our 58 day trip to the States. We will have flown 18,000 miles (round trip), driven nearly 4,000 miles by car and traveled between New York, New Jersey and Connecticut enough to keep EZ Pass in business for a while.
Things we've learned:
-My kids have adapted to waking up and not knowing where they are and not freaking out, as much; my son just asks every day "is it morning time yet?"
-My 16 month old learned where her nose, ears and mouth are in English (she knew in Chinese already)
-My 4 year old hates the sand but loves the beach
-My parents would have been married 50 years next week
-My brothers still know how to push my buttons and I love them for that
-I have awesome sister-in-laws who have made being here less hard and being away less hard
-I was told by my mother (of all people) that calling my Husband my Beloved in my previous post was "corny"
-Avoid dairy products before long car rides (more than 30 minutes)
-My family and friends have been so sensitive with our travel schedule and adaptability with shelping around everywhere and understanding it is not easy and in fact this is not relaxing nor a vacation for me
-I have some angst about going back to China for the "long haul" (til next summer as we don't have plans to travel back to the States this year) but I am starting to look forward to going back getting into our China groove sharing our adventures with you.
I will bid farewell as we head back into the Flux Capacitor.
Things we've learned:
-My kids have adapted to waking up and not knowing where they are and not freaking out, as much; my son just asks every day "is it morning time yet?"
-My 16 month old learned where her nose, ears and mouth are in English (she knew in Chinese already)
-My 4 year old hates the sand but loves the beach
-My parents would have been married 50 years next week
-My brothers still know how to push my buttons and I love them for that
-I have awesome sister-in-laws who have made being here less hard and being away less hard
-I was told by my mother (of all people) that calling my Husband my Beloved in my previous post was "corny"
-Avoid dairy products before long car rides (more than 30 minutes)
-My family and friends have been so sensitive with our travel schedule and adaptability with shelping around everywhere and understanding it is not easy and in fact this is not relaxing nor a vacation for me
-I have some angst about going back to China for the "long haul" (til next summer as we don't have plans to travel back to the States this year) but I am starting to look forward to going back getting into our China groove sharing our adventures with you.
I will bid farewell as we head back into the Flux Capacitor.
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Is it 7/11 or 11/7
When we are in China it gets quiet on FaceTime and Whatsapp (our most popular modes of communication with the States) around 11am until about 7pm. I always have to remind myself we are a day a head. It's confusing a lot of the time to think we are starting our day and my family and friends are wrapping up a day and when we are wrapping up a day they are just starting.
Now being on the other side of the time difference trying connect with my Beloved has been a bit of a challenge. Things get quiet here from 11am-7pm as he is winding down but the windows to talk are hectic as the kids are waking up/eating or driving me loco-I-mean having so much fun so it's not the most ideal time to catch up with each other.
For example, right now we are up (it's 7am) and Beloved is on a delayed airplane traveling back to Shanghai from a business trip and it's Thursday night already. It blows my mind, still.
To look on the positive side we have been able to catch up frequently this week from 2am-5am as one child or the other has been waking up for one thing or another. The kids did not get the memo: The sound of the ocean is supposed to help you sleep better #roadtrip #travelingwoes #lifewithkids #itiswhatitis
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Now being on the other side of the time difference trying connect with my Beloved has been a bit of a challenge. Things get quiet here from 11am-7pm as he is winding down but the windows to talk are hectic as the kids are waking up/eating or driving me loco-I-mean having so much fun so it's not the most ideal time to catch up with each other.
For example, right now we are up (it's 7am) and Beloved is on a delayed airplane traveling back to Shanghai from a business trip and it's Thursday night already. It blows my mind, still.
To look on the positive side we have been able to catch up frequently this week from 2am-5am as one child or the other has been waking up for one thing or another. The kids did not get the memo: The sound of the ocean is supposed to help you sleep better #roadtrip #travelingwoes #lifewithkids #itiswhatitis
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, August 6, 2015
Ruminations From the Turnpike
Two thirds of our trip in the States and over 2,500 miles driven on our rental car #Enterprise we've had a lot of time to think and talk about some random things in the car. Below are some thoughts.
-Drive thru #dunkindonuts is clutch when in a car with kids
-My 16 month can crush stairs, going up and down
-If my 4.5 year had to physically roll the window up and down every time the novelty would have worn off weeks ago
-Having a cold in the summer stinks
-The expanded #NJTurnpike is awesome
-Thank whoever created #ezpass
-How can people NOT have #ezpass, it's 2015 people
-Gas is really cheap in NJ ($2.23)
-Stores are anti-mothers: they don't open until 10am and they close at 8pm
-Good thing #wholefoods opens at 8am #earlyrisers
-My kids must wonder each night where they are sleeping the next night and how much time are we spending in the car
-Counting Light Sabors and Ewoks thanks to Stars Wars learning workbooks #costco
-My 4.5 year old asked me if there is TV in the sky, he's concerned what my father does all day. And he's hoping it is not making thunder
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
-Drive thru #dunkindonuts is clutch when in a car with kids
-My 16 month can crush stairs, going up and down
-If my 4.5 year had to physically roll the window up and down every time the novelty would have worn off weeks ago
-Having a cold in the summer stinks
-The expanded #NJTurnpike is awesome
-Thank whoever created #ezpass
-How can people NOT have #ezpass, it's 2015 people
-Gas is really cheap in NJ ($2.23)
-Stores are anti-mothers: they don't open until 10am and they close at 8pm
-Good thing #wholefoods opens at 8am #earlyrisers
-My kids must wonder each night where they are sleeping the next night and how much time are we spending in the car
-Counting Light Sabors and Ewoks thanks to Stars Wars learning workbooks #costco
-My 4.5 year old asked me if there is TV in the sky, he's concerned what my father does all day. And he's hoping it is not making thunder
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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