Helen W's Diary Entries Diary Navigation: Choose A Diary Entry -------------------- Latest Entry: 3/2/02 -------------------- 1/11/02 11/27/01 11/16/01 11/7/01 10/16/01 8/27/01 8/15/01 7/29/01 7/10/01 7/2/01 6/24/01 6/9/01 5/25/01 5/11/01 4/26/01 4/12/01 4/1/01 3/17/01 3/9/01 3/1/01 2/19/01 2/9/01 2/6/01 1/15/01 1/7/01 1/1/01 12/31/00 12/23/00 12/18/00 12/9/00 12/4/00 11/29/00 11/23/00 2/1/00 1/30/00 -------------------- Helen W's Introduction

Introduction

TIE A YELLOW RIBBON ... The Woods are going home! The older I get the more superstitious I become so I write this with great trepidation, I want nothing to jinx it ... but here goes ... we are moving to England! YIPPEE!!! Now, I don’t want anyone to assume that because there is so much jubilation in the Wood house that we don’t think this country isn’t great, it is, and you are all quite entitled to be patriotic and that’s marvelous, but remember that we are English and love our country, rain and all! So very soon we are, as a family, heading back to fish and chips, rain, family, friends and the national health service. We moved out here a little more than a year ago to begin our new life and have learned and laughed and cried and had fun and been homesick and through it all the children have missed their natural dad, their grandparents and just the way of life they are used to. We have done all we can to help them settle and asked them to try their very best to settle and make the most of all this country has to offer, and I am very proud of their efforts to do just that, but when it comes to the crunch, they just have found it too hard to adjust to not seeing their dad and find the schooling too different. The one promise I made to their dad when coming over here was, that if they couldn’t settle after a reasonable amount of time, and were genuinely unhappy, I would take them home.

I have found some things really hard, too. I have been used to health care that is totally free, no forms to fill in, no questions about income, no denial of any kind where health is concerned. I have been so frustrated by the system over here and although I realise that it works for so many people and that you all know how to work it and what to do, but it’s too scary for me, so I am excited to go home, register with a G.P. and never fill in another form! I can’t wait for my mum and dad to see Seth, and be near when the new baby is born, for my big kids to have a long stay with their dad and once again enjoy those occasional times when it will be just me, and now DH and Seth, and our new baby. No more listening to crying young people who miss everything they grew up with ... oh hasten the day! I shall do everything I can to keep the diary going. Of course, this big news means once again selling everything and starting again, serves me right for raving about the excitement of it to Eloise!!!

How will this affect Seth? Well, he’ll learn about rain! And he will know Gramma and Papa and Auntie Julie and Leah and all his big cousins (loads of them ranging from 22 to 7, most of them girls who will love him and kiss him to bits).

He has been the poorliest boy (do you say that over here? No? OK. He has been SO SICK!). An ear infection again, the worst cold and cough, and it has been heart breaking to watch him cry and frustrating to know that if he could just get a good sleep and eat something he would feel better. I will admit to feeling so useless which in turn makes me angry which Seth can sense and makes him scream! WHAT A CHRISTMAS!! At last, with humidifier rattling, nose drops dribbling, cough medicine swallowed, Tylenol taken and some gas drops for good measure, the boy is slumbering, mouth open and without a care in the world. Long may it last.

In re-reading my diaries thus far I notice that I mention Dan all the time, Sophie occasionally and dear Jordan never. I think this is the story of his life, he came into the world following six painless contractions, slept perfectly from three weeks, and has been as uncomplicated and undemanding ever since. He goes through life seeing to himself and at times he goes to bed and I wonder if I have even spoken to him all day! He is the dearest, kindest, gentlest, most sensitive little man and still manages to make my stomach flip when I look at his constantly scabby knees and his skinny little body that looks as though it has never seen a good meal. I guess that he isn’t mentioned in this diary, not because he isn’t as important as all the others but because he is always so busy. He loves Seth but is rarely still enough to be involved with a baby not yet old enough to jump skate ramps, or do wheelies on a B.M.X, I’m sure that when Seth is at the climbing, exploring, love to be filthy, digging stage Jordan will be his #1 buddy and I will despair of them both.

What a life this baby is in for, a big brother who will teach him compassion and how to chat up girls effortlessly, one who will show him every dangerous trick and stunt to make his mummy’s heart skip a beat, one who has a sense of humour second to none (that also knows too many scary tricks that we hope he NEVER teaches Seth), and a sister who will mother him to death and drive him insane when all he wants to do is to play with cars and dig in the dirt, not be paraded in front of her girlfriends and be cute! All this and a younger sibling to play with, lucky, lucky boy!

Seth and Rob met and, as predicted, the moment was great. As I said last week, Rob has four little sisters so he is a pro at being a big brother. Today, he said that he has never met a baby as good and easy to look after as Seth, praise indeed! He thinks, because Seth’s skin colouring is paler than his and their dad’s that Seth looks "Englandian" (... Rob’s word for English!).

So, when we move what will we miss? THE WEATHER! And the cheap eating out ... that’s such a treat in England, here it’s almost something to do when you don’t want to cook! The enthusiasm with which almost everything is celebrated, I love it, the parades, the decorating of houses for every occasion, the open friendliness of the people, always willing to talk to strangers and asking me to speak so they can hear my accent! The inexpensive petrol ... it’s six times more expensive in England, but the cars use much less and everything is closer to home so I suppose it evens out. Howard’s dad, I love him and he has been amazing to us this past year. He has helped us and supported us and isn’t even telling us how sad he is that we are going, although we can see it and know that he will miss Seth and the other children very much. Seth’s bedroom -- what a family project! I have included a picture of daddy in Seth’s room, with the lovingly shaped and sanded shelves made to look like they were made from wood from the ark, the curtains that I made trying to remember the steps to make the blinds and crying with frustration when it went wrong six times! The picture on the wall that Jordan helped me paint, the crib that the males fought over because they ALL wanted to put it together, the walls scrubbed and painted by Rob who usually gets bored with things quickly but spent hours and hours until they were perfect. And the beautiful wooden animals shipped here from England, with the exception of the giraffe which Gramma carried all the way from England as hand luggage so it wouldn’t get broken. We’ll miss it but we will do it again, with as much patience and even more love because this time we know who it’s for and he is worth every neck ache, every sweaty brow, every frustrating mistake until we get it right!

What will I love about being at home? Oh my goodness, my family, I have missed them so much my whole being has ached at times -- my wise mum, my grumpy, helpful dad, my funny sister with who I have shared so many hysterical and sad moments, my nephews and nieces. My two sisters and I were all single parents for the best part of 10 years, with 10 children between us, those children grew up with nine siblings and three mums for all that time. Now we are all married and the kids live in England, California and Utah and how sad they have been too not to have been able to see each other. We still won’t be all together but Jane has the means to travel back to the UK more than we do so we will still see each other.

I will love the ease of visiting the doctor/midwife/health visitor. The worry free, cost free, form free ease of it all, never again to be taken for granted! The quarterly utility bills that never seem as scary as these monthly ones ... no air conditioning to run! The “dropping in” of friends, the always open door that usually has someone coming through it to chat. I have found that people are, on the whole so busy here that there never seems time just to visit and chat. Perhaps it’s just me, or where we are … you are all so friendly I can’t imagine you don’t all “pop out” and visit friends! But in the 13 months I have been here, not one visit. But most of all, just being home, where everything is familiar and comfortable, I am just so excited! And with the marvels of technology and borrowing a computer, I shall be able to keep in touch with you all and it will be as though I am still here. The best of both worlds!

So, pray for us, that we find a house, and furniture, that the visa, etc. comes through for Howard quickly, that our children can be happy again and therefore we can enjoy more harmony as a family. It is a huge undertaking, especially with a little baby and a new pregnancy, but will, I know be worth all the stress and upheaval. Here we go again!!!

Till next week … ooh! I can say, as they will say all over the world and because I’m writing this on New Year’s Eve ... HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY NEW CYBER FRIENDS!!!!!!! May 2001 be filled with all you wish for yourselves, here’s to new beginnings.