In the last month I’ve been thinking very, very deeply about what is important to me and why. I’m grateful that our visit to Colonial Williamsburg gave me some mental space to think about things that have been on my mind. I’ve been thinking about homeschooling, parenting, why I do what I do, what the benefits are. It’s been a lot of thinking! Although I do regularly think about things like this, this was a lot more than usual. So what prompted all of this in the last month?
Though this was not in my mind or in my plans in even the slightest way when I visited Israel, following my return home I began talking seriously to dh about the feasibility of moving to Israel. This means discussing the needs of a lot of children of different ages, as well as my husband and myself. Schooling, language, culture, finances – how could it all be worked out? Was it a crazy idea or was it inspired? Would we compromise our family stability? Would it put too much stress on us? My thoughts have been going around non-stop, which is part of why our time in Williamsburg was so valuable – it allowed my mind to slow down and process.
Well, after all that thinking, there are still lots of things left to be decided on. But the main decision has been made. So………..we’re moving to Israel this summer! Really. 🙂
I told dd16 and ds17 a few weeks ago that I was thinking about this possibility very seriously, but somehow they weren’t grasping how serious I was. The other kids have the benefit of hearing us discuss it and see initial preparatory steps being taken (eg they all applied for US passports last week), so to them it feels real. To my older kids, it seems, as my son put it, like “the world’s fastest decision”.
There are a lot of unknowns, and it’s hard to leave what is familiar to basically start all over again. It’s scary, and not just for the kids! But I feel it’s the right move for us at the this time, and see it more as the next chapter of our lives rather than starting a new book. 🙂
Avivah
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