Puttachi and Moving

The idea of relocating to another country has not been easy on Puttachi. She was all settled here. She loved her school and her teachers, had a good circle of friends both at school and in the apartment complex, and of course she has a lot of doting grandparents and aunts and uncles. And of course a house with loads of toys and books and a wooden platform swing on which she does the most heart-stopping acrobatics--you get the picture. All settled.

And suddenly we are sitting with her asking her about how she feels about moving, leaving all this behind and moving to an unknown place. She resisted a lot. There were tears. Tantrums (There still are). Then she accepted it. Now, with not many days to go, she is reconciled to it. Not excited, not enthusiastic, just reconciled.

One of the hardest things for Puttachi was to let go of her toys and dolls and books. But she took it well. Once we told her that she cannot carry all her things with her, she was very matter-of-fact about it. She made three piles of everything. One small, select pile of things she could take with her. One pile of things that she could leave behind, to be cared for by grandparents. And the third, very large pile of things that she had to give away. I left the decision to her, and I'm proud to say that she made her choices well.

At times, my heart broke when I saw her pick up a stuffed toy, gaze at it, hug it, say, "Bye-bye Manny" and put it in the giving-away pile.

We came up with a plan for the things she had to give away. Some of it, we gave away to children in need. For the rest of them, she invited her friends to come and have a look, and take books, dolls, games, toys, art-and-craft-supplies away. If they wished, they could drop some money into her donation box. Most of the things are gone, and her donation box is filling up. She wants to send all the collected money to Nepal (she was affected by the effects of the earthquake). If you know of a reliable organization through which we could donate to Nepal relief work, please let me know in the comments.

A friend who moved to the US told me that if we are excited, the children pick up on it and they become excited too. Though I do have some excitement lurking underneath all that apprehension, it doesn't make an appearance too often. So now I'm trying to draw it out and let Puttachi see it. I'm trying to portray the whole thing as an adventure (which it is!)

I do feel sorry for her. Poor children, having to tag along wherever their parents take them. And we parents, doing what we hope is the best for the child!

Let's see where it takes us!