On boxes and bureaucracies…

Been negotiating all the muddied waters of a move — where is the ..?  What is this, and why did we pack it..?  Where can we keep this?

Everything gets lost, because nothing has a Place yet.  But slowly the boxes are dwindling.  I have a small card with a bad photo and a Virginia address on it.  Curtins are up in many of the windows.  First bills for services here have begun to arrive.  Art is being hung on the walls.

Kevin has added the extra work of navigating school to his load.  Orientations, rehearsals, social meetings, and scheduling all of the above are beginning to demand his time.

Moon still has weeks to go, and we hope to find out her teacher’s name next week.  For now, she reads through Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as her bedtime story, plays with her brothers, and sleeps on a mat on the floor (a bed arrives next week).  We work our way slowly through the generic school supply list provided by her new school (four eight ounce bottles of glue, un-labled.  24 crayons, each with name), knowing more lists will come when classroom specifics are nailed down.  I find myself wishing I could linger on the time with her, knowing it will be gone soon.  But then one of the boys gets into something he shouldn’t, and the moment for any wistful anything is gone.

Pollux is standing on his own now, doing deep knee bends and applauding his own performance.  He is so very pleased with himself.  And also so very frustrated by what he cannot do — tantrums are starting to rear their ugly head, complete with fists and feet hitting the floor.

Castor remains more even keel, general smiling and happy but less exhuberant than his brother (and has yet to tantrum).  He plays happily on his own or with others, and is speaking more and more clearly.  Less vocabulary, more easily understood when he does speak.  He can climb to the back of our couch, onto chairs, beds, etc on his own.  If things are quiet, someone is into something they shouldn’t be.

Words in the general vocabulary now are: “Kitty!” (both) “Hi!” (Castor), “Dog!” (Pollux), “Look!” (Pollux), “Duck!” (Pollux).

I have a library card here now, which seems a strange combination of badge of honor and guilty betrayal.  Will most likely try and take the kids to “Book Babies” and “Preschool Storytime” at our local branch this next week while Kevin is busy with school obligations.  More on our new locale later, when things are less tired.