I’ve realized that I am hesitant to say anything that might be interpreted as complaining or ingratitude on this blog. But I believe in being authentic, and if I can’t be honest about the things that are hard because I am afraid of being judged, then I can’t write at all.
So I will be real.
But know this- I am immensely grateful for this opportunity. I spend most of my time feeling blessed. But there are hard things and no one’s life – no matter where they live – is perfectly charming.
So there’s that.
We left Boise on Monday morning and arrived in London on Tuesday morning. The kids slept a few hours on the plane but by Tuesday night we were all so tired I was sure we would just jump right into our new schedule. I gave everyone Melatonin and they were all asleep by 9:30. Unfortunately everyone but Cameron was wide awake at 3:00am. Thank goodness for the World Cup to entertain us at such a bizarre hour.
Cameron ended up sleeping until 10:30 that morning. And he was good to go after that. Regular bedtime, regular awake time. Richard and I went back to bed Wednesday morning around 5am and Eli, Miriam and Simon watched cartoons and did who knows what while we slept. (Don’t report us to the authorities.) Mim and Simon took a nap that day but Eli didn’t go back to bed until after 9:00 that night.
By Thursday night through to Friday morning all six of us seemed to be sleeping somewhat regularly and our appetites seemed to have returned to appropriate meal times.
It’s a strange and almost helpless feeling to not be able to sleep when you want to and then to be utterly exhausted during the day. I have a new found empathy for anyone who has insomnia. For those who deliberately and voluntarily stay awake all night on a somewhat regular basis on the other hand… (Ahem. You know who you are…)
And in case you are gathering anecdotal research about melatonin, here’s my two bits.
I gave my kids melatonin drops each night before bed and they never had trouble falling asleep in the evenings. Now of course that could be attributed to sheer exhaustion, but it sure made our transition easier. Now if we can just get used to sleeping with no air conditioner, with the windows open, with the noises of the city and with a 4:30am sunrise…
Just Your Average Jo 
Love reading your blogs Jo. I’ve always been a silent stalker… I relate to your relocation challenges, albeit on a much, MUCH smaller scale. When we came to Wisconsin, we lived in a two bedroom apartment above the mall Dave now manages. It was painful to be in a furnished apartment with a few comfort objects and not much more than that. Trying to cook with a fraction of the necessary supplies and ingredients way so hard. I can’t imagine trying to do so in Celsius, amongst other changes a new country brings. Good luck in your adventure, you will look back on this experience with fond memories. Even though I despised our short two month stint in that apartment, I look back and smile at that time of our life!
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I hate jet lag and as a teenager I wasn’t very good about fighting it. I lived in Japan and I was always the last one to overcome it’s effects, luckily in the 3 years we only went back to the states once. Glad to hear you guys did so well.
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