an end to holidays.
I think I can now safely say that after six plane trips and dozens of car rides with Roz, she is a very easy baby to travel with. We’re finally back from our mini globe trekking, unpacked, and back into the daily boring routines we had before May. It doesn’t help at all that Poland was sunny, warm and I was in my flip flops and t-shirt at the airport, only to arrive in Dublin in boots, a jacket and umbrella.
It’s depressing how mundane everyday life is, and would continue to be so if it weren’t for the constant changes that happen around Roz. In the last five weeks she’s learnt to sit on her own (still a bit wobbly but still), she can roll from her back onto her tummy and most importantly, doesn’t panic. She also actively babbles back when spoken to and most shocking of all, miss grumpy has actually turned into miss smiley, and laughs a good deal these days.
Anyway, enough about Roz, onto the holiday, which was great, thanks for asking. The only oil in the ointment being the fact that I have realized my polish ain’t worth a damn for actual conversation, and that because of this, I felt unable to take advantage and make friends with all the wonderful people I met.
Kind of puts a whole damp, cloth on our potential move to Poland though.
But you know what I realized while we were there? This has been my first proper holiday in a very long time. Most years I go home to Zambia, and I don’t consider spending time with my family as ‘holiday time’ in the least. I usually leave remembering exactly why I left in the first place ten years ago. I know it doesn’t sound nice but I usually breathe a sigh of relief as I board the plane, ready to get on with my real life where I’m not viewed as a twelve year old and where my decisions and my opinions are actually treated with some kind of oh I don’t know…respect.
Okay, that sounded unnecessarily harsh. I do enjoy my times at home, but it’s just not a holiday. You’ll just have to believe me on this one.
In Poland though, it was a different story. We were in Warsaw for a few days…actually, at the same time Barack Obama was over, and I kept joking that he heard I wasn’t in Ireland so flew specially to Warsaw to make sure I got a chance to see him…which I didn’t of course. We stayed with Krys’ friends in a lovely apartment just outside the city. They were absolutely lovely people whom I’m sure I would have gotten along with splendidly had I known how to speak the bloody language! The thing I liked about them the most was that they had no TV, and two of the walls in their living room were lined with books. I kept thinking
‘Gosh, if I could even read the titles of the books, what great conversations we’d have.’
The reason I like the fact that they have no TV is because we are thinking of doing away with our TV as well, and we really had a lot of questions for them about how it has worked out for them, seeing as they have a twelve year old daughter and a one and a half year old son. I’ve seen firsthand what too much television can do to a child and always said that when I have my own child, I would not let them watch any television before the age of three, and then only supervised programs for maybe thirty minutes every day, till they were five. I really do want to stick to that and luckily, Krys has the same feelings about television as I do, so it makes it a lot easier to talk about and make decisions. My worry has always been that there are a lot of great educational programs out there that my child could potentially miss out on, plus, will I be aiding their social suicide by banning TV?
They told us that they did let their daughter watch a bit of TV when she was younger so it wasn’t an all out ban. However, their daughter Julia, of her own accord, actually stopped watching television a few years ago and told us she enjoys reading o much more as it fuels her imagination.
She was a great kid, full of self confidence and in no way a social outcast, so I think I will give the no TV thing a try.
While in Warsaw, I also met up with a friend I used to work with, who moved to Warsaw last year. I didn’t realize just how much I missed her company till then. They say it’s very important to have someone you can talk, laugh and be honest with in your workplace, and she was my person, so I really miss her.
So that was Warsaw. We then spent the rest our time in the area around the tri-city, beside the Baltic Sea. Our base was Krys’ parents’ house and as usual, we got a respite from having to look after Roz around the clock as her doting granny would gladly go out for walks, sit on the balcony or anything else with her while I ate or showered. And again, I wished so badly that I spoke Polish because Krys’ mum was so lovely and I would have loved to have had even simple chats with her without poor Krys having to act as interpreter every time.
We did have Roz’s naming ceremony, on the last day of our trip. It was lovely and very simple. Krys’ mum, his favourite aunt, the two of us and Roz were the only people present because that’s what Krys wanted in the end. We were out on the balcony with the two older ladies slightly tipsy and Krys’ mum gave a lovely speech about long life, good health and wishing the best for her little granddaughter, before placing a bracelet around Roz’ right wrist. I did actually shed a tear at this one because Krys’ mum said I would have no idea how much this meant to her. She was so, so happy.
Anyway, I’ll leave it at that.
I know I haven’t written much in the last few weeks, but hey, give a girl a break. Even finding time to eat is difficult these days.
But it will get better.
Tis weekend I’m off to Salsa school in Maynooth. I’ve been looking forward to this all year as it marks my return to dance and I plan to shake my tush like a crazy woman. stay tuned….
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