All of our household belongings came by sea so for a month, we would only have what we could stuff in a suitcase and take on the plane: a few clothes, toys for the boys and important legal documents. When we arrived in Wiesbaden, I was thrilled by the architecture and the beauty of the city but was shocked by where I would be living for the next month while waiting for our household items to arrive in Wiesbaden.
Our tiny two-bedroom apartment was smack-dab in the middle of the city with no backyard and nowhere to park a car. If I went to the grocery store, I had to walk with my three tiny children. I found myself looking at the items in the grocery store and buying the smallest amounts because I had to carry the groceries all the way home, along with the three kids, through busy streets and among the harried pedestrians who rushed by us, unencumbered by tiny bodies. Germans do not really have children and if they do, they only have one. Being 32 and having three kids made me quite a spectacle. Even though this grocery situation made things inconvenient and frustrating, I thank God that it allowed me to grow in temperance; I would eat less at meals because I knew that eating a lot would require a dreaded supermarket trip. In addition, all this starvation and exercise helped me to lose the last ten pounds of the weight I gained while pregnant with Martin.
As a cloth-diapering mom of three kids, laundry is a never-ending chore. In our new digs, we did not have a washer and dryer. I had to do the laundry in a separate building and they did not have functioning dryers. Since it was the middle of winter, I could not line-dry my clothes outside; I had to dry them in my house! In addition, in order to do the laundry, I had to climb down flight after flight of stairs with the three kids while holding baskets and laundry and arrive in the laundry room, usually to find all the machines occupied. After a month of dealing with this laundry problem, I began to see the fruits of this terrible situation. I would ask myself after every time I took clothing off the kids whether it really needed laundering or not. There was no way I was going to go through that painful process to launder clothing that was clean! It ends up that I had a lot less laundry to do than I ever did back in the States when I had my own washer and dryer.
- When we left Arlington Heights, we sold our cars and decided to buy something else once we moved to Germany. One of my goals for this move was to become a one-car family since Germany has such an extensive and well-funded public transit system. The first month, I could not have a car since they were not allowed in our apartment building. Whenever the kids and I wanted to go somewhere, we had to walk or take the city bus. This was such a lesson in humility. I went from driving a large vehicle to depending on a city bus and riding with the masses. One time, Noah ran away from me on the bus and I ran after him, leaving my infant in his stroller, which had on the emergency brake. At that very moment, our bus started climbing a steep hill, the stroller tipped back and Martin fell out of the stroller! A kindly old woman caught him before he crashed to the floor! Another time, I got Noah and Martin off the bus and turned around to help Maximilian off but the bus driver became impatient, snapped the doors shut and sped away with my son inside, screaming. When we bought a minivan shortly after, I felt so grateful to have some wheels under us and be able to go places on our time. I have not taken my car for granted since having that experience.
After reading a thousand real estate listing for homes in Wiesbaden, we settled on a home in the lovely neighborhood of Nerotal on the northside of Wiesbaden. Our home is a villa created in 1895 for King Wilhem II's mistress. The home was later divided into three apartments and we have the top floor. Even though this is an apartment, it is easily twice the size of our single-family home back in Arlington. We are grateful for the amazing amount of space and the unbelievable beauty that surrounds us. The grounds are a horticulturist's dream, full of every flower and plant imaginable in beautiful nooks and secret passageways. We look at a beautiful golden chapel and a large public park is right across the street with bike paths, ponds, animals and playgrounds. This place isn't without its headaches; we have to climb over 80 stairs to get to our apartment! With a chunky baby on my hip and the thousand things I have to carry everywhere with me, it certainly is a cross to bear. The Catholic in me offers up every step for the poor souls in purgatory. I also have to ask myself if this can even compare to the cross my Lord carried for me. Keeping these two things in mind has made these stairs completely bearable. That and the grocery delivery service we recently discovered. The man who comes every week is so sweet and today, we offered the kids and me a blessing in his broken German. I will keep tipping him generously! Moving here has been a difficult experience but I am so grateful for the opportunities our family has as a result of this move. Our boys are speaking German since they attend a German kindergarten every morning, I have more free time in the morning to pursue my own interests and new friendships, especially with the women at the military base nearby, and I have had the opportunity to grow in temperance, humility and patience. Our new home has a guest room. When are you coming to visit?
