#lauriesfranconia

[lmgardenerina]

A New Direction

Hello to all my dear readers, I know it’s been a long time. I have decided to switch platforms and begun a new writing project over on Substack called The Updrafts. The name is a nod to the warm air currents that birds use to save energy, fly very high and cover long distances. It’s become clear to me that when we identify the Updrafts in our own lives, we fly more efficiently and experience…

[lmgardenerina]

For all

It took me a while to compose my thoughts this 4th of July. I hope what I've come up with will be an encouragement as you sift through what it means to be patriotic these days.

Hello! It’s been quite a long time. When I last wrote, first grade had just begun–now we are in the homestretch. So many unknowns have been uncovered- Verbs and nouns, pages of reading, addition and subtraction. The kids in the neighbourhood walk to school and back without adults and without fear or trepidation. Lucky for me though, Big Sister still gets excited when I offer to meet her half…

[lmgardenerina]

The great American ice cream tour

In 2021 parts of the world began to re-open. We kept our eyes peeled and once it seemed safe enough to travel we hopped a flight from Munich to DC. I love writing it so casually– it as if one can just “hop” on a flight with two kids and a foreign husband during a pandemic when Europeans are banned from entering the USA. We prepped the kids for the 8 hours of mask wearing with short, television…

[lmgardenerina]

A day

In our family we have established a rhythm. Every week day I am like a goalie from 5-7am. Thorsten has his quiet time. If the girls are up, I snuggle with them or let them play until 7. At 7 we get everyone ready for school–dressed, fed, hair and teeth brushed. I pack their snacks and he drives them. Getting them out of the house on time is a bit of a circus so I always breath a sigh of relief…

[lmgardenerina]

Cooking without Jola

The last time Jola and I cooked together was Christmas Eve. We cooked a goose with all the Franconian trimmings. In November and December we had made some time to cook together too, while the girls were in preschool, and we were both so excited to be getting back to it after a long hiatus because of diapers and nursing, working and just no time. Those of you who have been reading along since the…

[lmgardenerina]

Day 25

Rumor has it that our 35 day quarantine will be extended. Nothing official yet, it’s just everyone’s feeling.

I have to admit, I think the quarantine must really be getting to me because I nearly cried today imagining how boring cleaning will be when the girls go back to pre-school. Then I felt this overwhelming desire to keep them home all summer. #sendhelp

I have actually come to enjoy…

[lmgardenerina]

Day 19 Motives

There comes a moment in everyday when it becomes crystal clear that the whole production will go up in flames if everyone doesn’t get outside in the fresh air immediately. I am so so thankful that we have a yard for moments like these. The weather was questionable but we headed out anyway. The girls fought it but once we got out there everything was so much better.

Still, on this particular…

[lmgardenerina]

Day 18 Calm in the face of Change

In a shocking turn of events, after her nap today, Little Bean emerged from her room without saying a word. Stealthy, like a ninja, she headed to my room where she came upon the basket of folded laundry. When I discovered her she was silently re-folding the towels from the basket. As this does not sound like the behavior we have come to know and love from Our Little Lady of the Destruction, I was…

[lmgardenerina]

Day 17

Day 17 The Simple Things

It’s the simple things.

That’s the truth about everything. Every situation, every moment of joy, every struggle– it’s something simple that gets at the heart of it, something simple that becomes the solution.

(Except getting children to go to bed. Oh my gosh, the last few nights they have really been fighting it…)

Anyway, today the kids spent a really long time looking for their…

[lmgardenerina]

Day 7

Instructions to stay at home are firmly in place and time here has slowed down. With nowhere to be and a lack of anticipation about where we might go this weekend or even next month, the pressure is off.

Our rule about mornings during the quarantine is this: Try to stay in your own bed until 6am. After that either come snuggle with mommy and preferably fall back asleep or stay in your own…

[lmgardenerina]

Day 65: TV time

Day 65: TV time

The girls were a mess today. Teeth brushing? Tantrum. Hair brushing, worse. Going outside? Terrible. Staying inside, earth shatteringly bad idea. Getting in the car? OMG we might die. Shrimp for dinner? No! Cous cous again? Ew. Wait it’s not cous cous, it’s quinoa? Also bad…

Just dumb stuff but All. Day. Long.

I am lucky to have a partner. He put them both to bed.

While I have soaked up…

[lmgardenerina]

Day 50: Details

Yesterday I truly believed it was Day 50. I felt like celebrating, as if we’d made it to the half way point. The halfway point? As if you can be halfway on a journey to an unknown place that requires an unknown amount of time.

It wasn’t until I woke up this morning that I realized I had skipped Day 49 altogether. As much as we’re making of this time, maybe the days are running together a bit.…

[lmgardenerina]

Day 36

As I begin this post, Little Bean is in her bed singing to herself and saying, See you later Al-ligator, after while Croc-o-dile, see you soon Ba-boon, over and over again. Earlier she said Mommy I need to snuggle you. Once they are in bed I think of them with such adoration.

They can be so endearing, so absolutely precious. But today they were also so absolutely annoying. The whole day was…

[lmgardenerina]

Day 35: Right here, right now

Today was supposed to the last day of the quarantine. This should’ve been the Sunday night when everyone got a bath and picked out their clothes for the morning. I should be doing my check-list again, preparing Big Sister’s Brotzeit (healthy snack) for Kindergarten and getting myself ready for my Monday ballet class.

It probably comes as no surprise to you that I’m not doing any of those…

[lmgardenerina]

Day 27 Scenes

There’s a part of this whole experience that feels like a game or a bloopers and outtakes television program. Sometimes a family comedy with scintillating questions like Will Little Bean stop eating sand before the end of the quarantine? Can mommy think up something for dinner every night? How many days can a person go without a shower? How long can a family avoid cleaning up? How many things can…

[lmgardenerina]

Day 15: It's getting normal

Day 15: It’s getting normal

Today in an unprecedented turn of events–Big Sis invited Little Bean to play in her room. This is extraordinary. Not only that, they played for nearly an hour without any drama at all. Who are these people? I had time to eat breakfast, drink my coffee and read a book in relative silence. It was weird. It was amazing.

The day went on in this hazy, dreamy way. Laughing voices filling the air,…