Big changes a foot

There are lots of changes a foot in the Croser household over the next few months, beginning on Friday this week at Philadelphia Airport

I am taking the step of leaving Lucy with Joe for a week and taking myself back to England to see family and catch up with London and some 'me' time. I am excited about going, and about having a holiday from being a Mum and housewife for a week, seeing family and getting my England fix that is for sure. But I am also anxious about how life will be without my little girl by my side, and how she will be without me at hers. Her and Joe get on like a house on fire and I have no qualms about how well she will be looked after at home, but this is new territory for us all, so who knows exactly how it will go?

I will blog during my trip as much as possible and update everyone on what I am doing. The weather is set to continue being cold and icy, so it will be interesting to see how it feels compared to Pennsylvania, where it is also mighty cold and some days icy and snowy!

At the beginning of February Lucy and I will face another big step, when she starts preschool (nursery school) two mornings a week. She will be going to West Chester Playschool, a small co-operative school for 2-5 year olds, which is in town and close to home. The playschool was the first we visited and all three of us enjoyed it - Lucy got stuck straight in with the other children and seemed at home there.

Why are we starting her in February and not waiting until September? It's a long and, for some boring, story but essentially we feel she is ready to do something away from home with other children now. Plus we want her to integrate with the 2-year old children now, so that she can move to the 3 year old class in September. Lucy's friend Tess will be in Lucy's class, so Lucy is excited about that. It will certainly help to have a familiar face in the classroom.

Sadly another change for us is that we will have to say goodbye to our very good friends Jen, Marc and Max at the end of February. It will of course only be a temporary goodbye. Email and Skype will be at our fingertips, and we are hoping that the move to Germany for Marc's job will only keep them there for 3 years. Even so, Jen, Max, Lucy and I have been on a very colourful and fu journey over the past 2 and a bit years, and we will sorely miss their company...and not least watching Max and Lucy grow together. I haven't told Lucy yet - such a hard thing to explain. I'll work it out nearer the time.

I am not a lover of change in my life. I once said to a friend "I'm no good at change", and she was shocked that I felt that way. "Think of the changes you made in your life to move over here to the States, and how well you have adapted" she said. Well thinking about it after that conversation I did realise that I had overlooked that 'small' detail. I have learned that I am better at changes that I can plan for. Planning is one of my favourite things to do, so thankfully I have that tool under my belt and will use it as much as I can in the coming month.