Best Kids Ever!

Lucy and Liam anticipating yet another cramped cab ride

When I was eleven or twelve, my Mom suggested that we might have to move from our home in Dartmouth to Halifax, a distance of about twenty kilometers (miles for my American readers). I remember how devastated I was at the prospect of leaving the neighborhood and friends that my life seemed to revolve around. As far as I was concerned, it was the end of the world. Ultimately we didn't make the move (and I'm pretty sure my whining factored into the decision).

You can imagine why I announced our possible move to the other side of the world with some trepidation. There was a lot to leave behind in order to come here. We all gave up family and friends to come here, but my kids willingly gave up the only life they really knew. And they gave it up willingly.

Yes, they do celebrate birthdays in Abu Dhabi

We exchanged a great home with a spacious yard for a three bedroom apartment and the constant din of city living. Lucy gave up many of her precious stuffed animals to come here, a sacrifice that I didn't fully appreciate until I blubbered my way through the last twenty minutes of Toy Story 3. Liam left a great young men's program. Miranda lost new friends that had just moved in across the street, and James gave up regular play dates with Chaim Pilling. Our existence here hasn't been complaint free, but none of my kids has complained about the big stuff. None of them has said that they wanted to give up and go back to Canada. They have all shown a resilience that I could have only hoped for at their age. They've taken it all in stride, the cramped cab rides, the constant barrage of foreign languages and smells, and the incessant sunlight (I guess that last thing isn't such a hardship).

Me playing around with shutter speed.

I often write about what my kids are doing, but I don't write enough about how absolutely amazing they are. So, just in case there's any question about where I stand on my kids, I think they are the bees knees and the cat's pyjamas all rolled up into one.

My kids are not shy about sharing their joy.

New on Franksyness!
We're going to start a new feature on the franksyness blog. Because I worry that I have not been giving the whole picture of our experience here, I'm going to turn over some of the blogging duties to Liam, Lucy and Miranda (not that I've told them yet). If you have any questions about our experiences here and you're looking for the real scoop, you can post a question in the comments section and either Liam or Lucy or Miranda will answer it (one of the nice things about homeschooling is that you can turn anything into homework).