Move to the seaside, take away the pressure!

Who would've thought that moving to a little seaside town would reap so many benefits in my life and my family. When I look at the busy life back in Brisbane, the driving back and forth to school, gymnastics, dancing, theatre and the violin lessons, auskick, not to forget the homework and the little time in which to do it... my daughters were under a whole lot of pressure to be there best all the time, all the time, all the time.  I look back and can see how exhausting it was for not only them but me too.   I had no energy left for myself or anyone else.  I thought it was normal to feel tired all the time, but it's not.  You take away all those pressures and you can breathe.  I walk with the girls to school everyday, its about 2kms down the hill and up the road.  We get to see the tides changing from day to day. We've had frost that made the grass feel like weetbix. We've watched the trees turn from orange and red leaves to no leaves at all. This is called the season changing and we are seeing it on our way to school everyday.  The girls are learning to cross the road carefully, listening and looking for cars coming, its developing their senses to be aware of their surroundings.  It won't be long and they can walk to school by themselves.  (Although I will always want to walk with them until they are to embarrassed to go to school with their mum, hopefully that never happens).  Last week it rained, we got soaked, and guess what.... it was fun.  Hot showers and hot chocolates when we got home and cuddles on the couch. Perfect.  The school principal doesn't believe in loads of homework, in fact the girls don't get any homework, just read a book, learn about life by playing with your friends after school.  Not having the pressure we were living under to perform, perform, perform, has had a huge impact on my girls.  Summer tells me about what she's learned at school, she's retaining that information and is excited to teach it to me.  And I have the energy to listen. I'm not driving, tired, taking on too much, no, I'm there, energised and alert.  I don't yell at my girls anymore, they're not naughty girls, they just needed me to enjoy them and I can do that now.  I just got told from Summers teacher that one of Summers friends was commenting on how much baking we do together.  I now have a daughter that does the dishes with me every night because we don't have a dishwasher. I hate doing dishes but I love doing them with my little buddy.  These two girls who use to fight over everything now share a room and hum to each other to go to sleep.  They are so buggered from real living that they are in bed by 7pm and sleep right through to 7am.  They eat better, they sleep better, they behave better.  Is it the sea air?  Maybe.  I say, take away the pressure of keeping up with everyone, and the pressure that some schools put on education and you get really cool kids that love life.  They have new girlfriends coming over to play most afternoons or my girls are out down the road at someone else's place.  They're home by 5pm, thats the rule and so far that's proved to work.  I didn't know this is what I'd be trading the big life in the city for but I like it.  I will admit, not having a shopping mall down the road was giving me withdrawals, and instant coffee is doing my head in a little but I'm learning to accept it, grow from it, my wallet always has cash in it because there's nothing to spend it on. I now love grocery shopping because I get to go on an adventure through the countyside to the big shops and actually open my purse once a week. There's value in the small things in life and I'm learning that.  This is a true testimony of Gods love in my life.  You know the song  "the best things in life are free" was playing in the car when my mum died, It's only taken almost 24 years to understand that. Thank you God for taking this approach to teach me that its ok to slow down, its ok to stop and smell the roses, and its beneficial to everyone not to put ourselves under so much pressure all the time.  In saying that, I need to get out the door and meet them after school, it's getting cold out so i'll have to walk fast to warm up!  I hope we can keep walking through winter, I mean, theres enjoying the cool air and then there's freezing your butt off...!!!!   Lets see how long it takes for me to need a second car.  Well, thats the 2nd instalment of life in NZ, so far so good.



On our way to school.... not a bad view from the stairs.