Tuesday, December 5, 2006

Surviving Jet Lag...


Day 4 in Derby... it's 5.30am and the sun won't make an appearnce for another 2-3 hours. But the boys and I are up battling jetlag. I realise now that jetlag with small children is a completely different scenario from the hassle of waking up at 5am for a few days, that I used to go through BC (before children). Now it is a case of being prepared to play for a few hours between midnight and 3am, in the hope they will crash again and get onto something resembling a routine within a week or two.

Our first purchase was padded parkas for the boys, when I realised we were hopelessly unprepared wardrobe wise for this cold weather. Off to Next, and they look very smart in them, but we have a hard time convincing Dylan (who used to not want to wear shoes in Australia, let alone a jumper) to wear it each and every time we get out of the car, leave the house etc etc. And Sam, who has only just mastered the art of walking, now waddles around and topples over as his centre of gravity has shifted with the weight of the coat. He flounders on his back like a turtle, waiting for someone to pick him up, as he cannot roll over.

The weather is apparently quite mild for this time of year, and we have enjoyed sunny mornings. The rolling hills of the Derbyshire Dales, farms and old stone cottages are gorgeous, but it does seem to get chillier the further from the city of Derby and the higher we go. Our home search is alternating between suburban homes and remote villages, as we are still not sure which lifestyle to embrace. Most of the suburbs, even the best ones, are full of those ugly "new" developments (circa 1980) and have little appeal aesthetically, but of course all mod cons and facilities for the kids are nearby.

My approach is of course to go way over budget, and Jason has has to rein me in (pointing out the amount of clothes shopping I could do with the extra savings in rent).

The city centre of Derby (which we can walk to) is very pretty, all cobblestones and twinkling christmas lights. So far I have not got past the Disney store (for Dylan of course, but Sam also adores it and is showing his shopping skills in picking out christmas presents) and M&S (we are living on their ready meals).

I am sure I will feel more settled once we have found our home, and got over the worst of this jetlag, but I am dreaming of beaches and missing our friends. The boys are still excited and happy, but Dylan said wistfully yesterday "I wish Zac and Sarah and Hunter and Amelia and all our friends were here too."

Agreed!

1 comment:

Jason Howard said...

Jet lag was worse than I thought. Lucky the ashes was on so I could keep amused while the kids played.