I had my last interview yesterday and my blood sugar didn’t enough spike. 🙂 Such a relief to be done. Now, we wait. The waiting is not fun as we are all anxious to know where we go next. I keep reminding myself that even the worse option is a good option because we only applied to places that we would be happy to live. Hopefully we know the answer before March.
I am true believer that kids need to be grounded, and not think that the life and comfort they enjoy is the norm. I grew up with little to no toys, handful of trips, fruits were treat, and candies were only for school trips. When I was 9 years old (before we moved to Argentina) I told my dad that I don’t want to leave china but to learn piano instead. We couldn’t afford it obviously. Once I signed up for English lesson in my teenager years without consulting my parents. My dad went to the school to withdraw my application simply because we couldn’t afford it.
Now, my girls are fortunate to do whatever they want and get whatever they need. Sometimes hubby would say we work hard enough to get where we are so we can afford these to our kids. It is partly true but I realize that by not grounding them to the reality (which is not their bubble life), we are depriving them the opportunity to appreciate what they have. If everything is easily accessible, then they wouldn’t appreciate them at all.
The big question is how do we make them not to take everything for granted? mmmm….. still thinking.
Our New Journey 
Great question and something I struggle with too; I definitely think I appreciated the little things far more as a child because my parents didn’t have much money. It was hard, at times, but overall I think I was more content than my own kids. The answer was almost always going to be “no” to things that cost money so treats felt like…treats. A trip to McDonalds felt like I was visiting a Michelin star restaurant; eating out was a once-a-year luxury (to fast food). My kids think nothing of the fact they eat out at least once a month. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing…but I think it can easily slide in to the kids taking things for granted and not feeling grateful for what they have.
We try to balance this well with our kids (and considering what we *could* provide, I think we do fairly well)…but definitely room for improvement.
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Hehehe let me know when you figure it out!! I also worry our boys are a bit “spoiled”… they have so much and get so many opportunities, “things”, travels… and while we try to make sure they don’t take it for granted, it’s pretty hard. They are just kids after all, and they don’t really know any other life. When we go to Mexico it’s a good opportunity for my husband to talk with them about his (much more humble) upbringing and the challenges he overcame to now have the life we have, etc. But I’m never really sure if they truly “get it” 100%….
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