Homesick



Emily had her first bout of homesickness this week. 

She started off the week with a cold and because of that was a little more whiny and clingy.  But even as she started feeling better, the whining and clinging tendancies have remained.  Today, she told us that she didn't want to go to school anymore.  This was after a crying episode about not wanting to take books back to the library.  It's all very dramatic!

For me as a parent, this is always a difficult balance to strike.  I have very little tolerance for whining, yet at the same time, I don't want to ignore her needs and just tell her to get over it.  So what to do?

It finally occurred to me that maybe there was more to this mood of hers than just surface stuff.  Was there more going on underneath?  With a three-year old, you are never quite sure if they are just being three and going through a stage or if there is something else going on.

But then, my suspicions were confirmed when she was drawing pictures today and telling us that they were different places in Georgia.  Ah, I thought, here's my chance.  So I asked her if she was missing Georgia today.  She said yes.  So I asked what she missed about Georgia.  She said, "I miss the cats and dogs (stuffed animals) in my toy chest at home."  Sweet girl! 

So we talked about missing Georgia and how we would visit later.  After that, she has been better.  I guess, like all of us, sometimes it just helps to talk it through.

I tend to feel homesick about food, which is not really surprising since my life pretty much revolves around food!  It's been Mexican food recently, which I was not expecting.  It is not easy to find here.  There is plenty of Italian and Indian food, and some Chinese.  But Mexican food is a rarity.  I did find enough ingredients in the store to make chicken fajitas one night, but I have yet to find black beans.  How can I live without black beans?! 

It's funny the things that come up that you aren't expecting.  And it's good to remember that our little ones feel these changes and losses as much as we do, even if they don't have the means to verbalize it.  Sometimes neither do we, and it comes out in weird moods or over-reactions to minor things.  But that is for another post!!