Matt and I come from really big families… We both grew up with tons of cousins, aunts, uncles, and grand-parents. I think that is one of the reasons we were meant for each other. If you are not from a big family, you won’t get it. But we get it. We get the big gatherings. We get the craziness of big families. And we are happy to have our children grow up with the same.
Two weeks ago, we spent a weekend at a lakehouse with 30 relatives. That was just from my dad’s side of the family. Yesterday we spent the evening with Matt’s side of the family. My mom is taking the boys to the movies every Tuesday this summer. Today, we were back at my dad’s swimming with cousins to celebrate his birthday. It really is amazing for our kids to be able to grow up with grandparents and great-grandparents and aunts and uncles and tons of cousins. It is awesome.
Days like today remind me that one day we’ll be half-way around the world, and won’t be able to spend the weekend with family. And as excited as I am to let our kids see the world and experience new cultures, there is part of me that is sad that we won’t have regular weekends with grandparents and cousins.
But Matt and I have another thing in common…when we were both in middle school, our parents moved each of us far away from our home towns and huge extended family. My family moved around the country several times… and although it was not to a foreign country, I definitely lived through my own culture shocks moving from liberal-progressive Maryland to plantation-Southern-belle Birmingham, Alabama. Matt, on the other hand, ended up in Saudi Arabia.
As kids, we didn’t necessarily love our parents decision to move us around the country/world. But as adults, we realize it was the best thing our parents ever did for us. It opened our minds to different ways of living. It opened our minds to life beyond our hometown. It is THE reason we want to take our kids on this trip around the world. We need our kids to experience life outside of our hometown.
We are so excited to start this journey for our kids… even if we are still a few years away from achieving our dream. It is hard to be patient when we are so ready for our kids (and us) to see the world! But days like today (yesterday, Tuesdays, 2 weeks ago…), spending time with family and cousins, is an experience that many others don’t get. Our kids get it. And that makes us happy. For now.