Hooray we are home!

Tags

children, foliage, Jack, Miami, postaday2013, travel

We are missing our baby girl and saying goodbye was bittersweet but it is nice to be back home in Massachusetts. We missed both the baby boy and Jack. My feet are a little cold because it is a cool 55 degrees as opposed to the 85 degree humid soup we left. There were some gorgeous views out in Miami, but when we were flying back home and getting close to the ground, the fall foliage was breathtaking seen from above. All the rusts, oranges, yellows, reds and greens made me think of pumpkin pie, apple tartes and hot chocolate.

I am exhausted and I am definitely looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight as I am sure that Jack is looking forward to sleeping with his Maman and Papa. lol. Here are two pictures of our little baby boy Jack.

Farewell Miami

Tags

farewell, Miami, nightlife, pictures, postaday2013, restaurants

I figured I’d post a few last pictures of Miami since my hubby and I will be in transit for much of the afternoon. It has been very nice to visit Miami these past few trips but if our baby girl weren’t here, I would probably not come back. Miami is far too hot and humid for my personal comfort and it isn’t a walkable city so that is a big negative in my book of preferences, I also don’t feel as safe here as I do in New York or in Boston. There is way too much poverty and you feel the desperation in the air, not of course where we were staying near the bay but not too much further inwards towards the Brickell area, where we walked for a little bit, my hubby told the baby girl and I to stay towards the left of him or to stay near his right. The state of affairs in Miami is a result of a lack of public policy and Florida is a very republican state, its governor Rick Scott was one of the first to refuse to expand Medicaid to accommodate the new Affordable Care Act or Obamacare and he also signed into law very restrictive voter identification laws.

So politically Miami isn’t quite my cup of tea, but for young people, rich people, fun loving and party going people, then Miami can be a lot of fun. The night life is amazing, there are tons of restaurants featuring every cuisine imaginable and the night clubs seem to be so much fun with their rich latin music and their very sexy dance moves. I would categorize Miami as a very young and hip city, I am youngish, but I am definitely not hip and I am pretty sure that I was never hip even when I was young and single. I just don’t roll that way.lol. Our baby girl loves it here at the University and that is all that counts for me, she is definitely of the young and hip crowd, unlike her fuddy-duddy Maman. 🙂

Our wonderful time together as a family

Tags

baby girl, comfortable, Miami, postaday2013, university, weekend

Today we had such a nice time together walking around downtown Miami and we stumbled upon a French Bistro called La Bastille. We actually found it at the perfect time, it was time for brunch. We were seated immediately inside, the Bistro isn’t big and it had seating outside but I felt that it was too hot to seat out there and eat. The servers were all women and one of them had their daughter “working” as well, she had to be about five years old and she had a child size waiter’s apron and she had her own pad and pencil to write with, it was precious. The brunch menu was very appetizing, they had pain au chocolat, croissants and a French breakfast with cafe au lait, they also had eggs Benedict served on a croissant instead of the traditional english muffin, my hubby and the baby girl ordered eggs Benedict which the baby girl ordered hers with smoked salmon as an extra, I ordered the French breakfast because I was hankering for real French bread and preserves, it was delicious and brought me back to France. I am definitely hoping for an encore tomorrow morning.

We then spent the rest of the day going to stores to replenish the baby girl’s wardrobe, she was in need of some more tops. She brought us to a very nice shopping mall not far from the campus and I was very proud of her for making us walk, because I know first hand that walking isn’t her favorite thing and she was having us do something that she has gotten to accept as a good way to get in exercise. At one point we got back to her campus to drop off her things at her dorm room and we got to see a Maman duck with her flock of ducklings, they were adorable.

We said our good byes, I felt immediately sad, but I feel a million times better now, I have seen how comfortable she is in her new environment, she had a spontaneous smile on her face at all times and she burst out laughing so easily this weekend. She is doing great in her mind, at her school and all around. I can go home feeling relieved and happy.

Family Weekend

Tags

Family Weekend, Miami, postaday2013, transfer student, travel

The University of Miami has each year a Family Weekend for the incoming freshmen and the transfer students to get the families together at the campus after more than a full month of school, primarily, I think to alleviate any lingering doubts or concerns the parents may be having over their children adapting to their new home away from home. We had always planned for my hubby to go alone because I had already been, but at the very last minute his ticket still hadn’t been booked yet. We can never book anything in advance because with his position within his company, he all too often has to cancel. Once he was all set to go, I was looking online and there were some incredible specials available. If you can do it, waiting until the very last minute can save quite a bit of money. My hubby became very excited when I threw out the idea that perhaps I can go as well. I had never booked a flight blind before, basically you give the dates that you need and you are guaranteed to fly between the hours of 6 a.m and 10 p.m, arriving the same day and you aren’t flying standby, you definitely have a seat on the plane. You just don’t know which airline, how many stops and at what specific time you are leaving or coming back. It’s an adventure and in our case, it wasn’t bad. Delta is our airline, we have one stop each way, Detroit, and we left very early and are arriving very late, so not too bad for pretty cheap.

When the baby girl found out that she was getting both of her parents, she was really happy, so here we are and we are definitely happy to see her. I am especially happy to see her so bubbly and relaxed, I have been very worried about her since I had left her at the end of August. In the beginning having her call home all homesick was nerve wracking because all you want to do as a parent is to fix it and make it better, but she was down in Miami so all that I could do was try to say the right things and that more often than not doesn’t work for homesickness. After that, was the difficulty of the classes and how Miami was so different from her old school, that was difficult as well, trying from long distance to give her the positive reinforcement and emotional support from so far away.

So when we both saw her smiling and laughing and having her take us around the campus, giving us our own private tour of her personal experience at Miami made us both proud. She told us both that she now loves it and she feels comfortable in her classes and with her small circle of friends. We both feel infinitely better and we are having a great time with her.

At first I thought the Family Weekend was a bit too soon, but after having spent four solid weeks giving the baby girl various pep talks, I can see why the Weekend was devised because it probably takes everyone about a month to figure it out and the University wants the parents to see that even if the beginning weeks were tough, their child does eventually get it and will flourish.

On the road again

Tags

airport, flying, Miami, postaday2013, travel

I’m on the road again, in the airport Miami International, sitting in a Starbucks, writing this at 6:02 in the morning waiting for one of my flights back north, back to my hubby, the baby boy and to Jack. The baby girl will be fine and she is now embarking on an exciting journey in a safe, intellectually challenging world that is the University, I am so happy for her and proud of her.

I am flying to Boston to meet my hubby and we will go home together. I figured that I would write this small missive now because who knows how I will feel after two stops and many hours later. I am flying to Tampa, changing planes and airlines (this could be a little crazy) and then flying to Newark, New Jersey, changing planes and then off to Logan airport in Boston. So my first plane leaves at 7:40 a.m and I finally get to my destination at 3:40 p.m. I will be tired and stale afterwards so I definitely think it best to get my words out while I am relatively fresh and awake at 6:08.

Starbucks has a great Banana Walnut bread, I highly recommend it. I was hoping for their peach, raspberry granola yogurt parfait but all they had was strawberry, blueberry and I am allergic to strawberries so that is why I opted for the Banana Walnut bread. I just looked up and caught a lady eating oatmeal, I had completely forgotten that Starbucks had oatmeal on their menu, I wish that I had been a little more awake when I had ordered, oatmeal is good for me, much healthier than the banana walnut bread but what can you do? It was really good.

Today is going to be a long day, not in a bad way just a long day. I can’t wait to see my hubby, our baby boy and of course Jack. I do miss my baby girl but she is about to have fun and learn a lot and that is what I need to remember and focus on, she is doing what is going to lead her to great things.

My last day in Miami

Tags

independence, letting go, Miami, postaday2013, university

Today was a marathon session of orientation for both the baby girl and I, albeit separately and we definitely got oriented, my head feels stuffed full of information, hopefully tonight while I sleep my little brain cells will be able to sort out all the good from the fluff. While my baby girl was being oriented, I like using the word slightly nonsensically, I took the time to walk around the campus using the trajectory that she will be using, going from the Cox Science building to the Dooley building and then straight to the Mahoney Dining hall and then the adjacent Residence hall just to have an idea of what her day will entail.

I then spent some time admiring all of the lizards that are everywhere, I love lizards. I also walked along the pathways going from fountain to fountain all the while dreading the moment that I would have to say good-bye. On a positive note, before the baby girl went off with her group to another session, I caught up with her at the ballroom where they had been directed to initially, I saw her in the middle of a group of girls and I saw her twinkling eyes. That was all that I needed to see to feel much better at last.

I was getting nervous before that sight because I didn’t want to leave her with nervous and anxious eyes, and seeing those twinkles in her hazel eyes lifted the huge load off my shoulders and my heart. When we said good bye, we hugged and hugged. She shed a tear or two while I said silly things to make her laugh and and be light-hearted. The silly things were also to help me keep the tears from squeezing out of my eyes, I wanted my baby girl to go to bed feeling happy and excited, not sad.

A full day in Miami

Tags

campus, Miami, postaday2013, target

Today the baby girl and I did some reconnoitering at the University of Miami campus. She wanted to get a better overview of the campus, especially the location of the two buildings that housed all of her classes; The Cox Science building and the Dooley building. We also walked over to the Eton Housing building to ask the Housing Department if they had any indication as to how long my baby girl would be staying at the Holiday Inn across the street. We spoke to a junior, who shared that last year he had been in the same situation and he only spent three days living at the hotel before they moved him into the upper class men dormitory. That brightened my baby girl right up because it isn’t easy living out of a suitcase and having a “permanent” living space is much more amenable to doing well in school and it is much less stressful.

We also took a taxi to Target down the road to get the remaining things that she needed for school; ink for her printer, paper, notebooks, a shower caddy and other miscellaneous items and we took a taxi back. I have to say that Miami could really stand to expand their Mass Transit system, if you don’t have a car, you are prey to hours upon hours of lost time waiting for buses. It isn’t laziness that deters you from taking the bus, it is the dread of spending over an hour and a half trying to travel 6 miles, the Metro rail is so short that it only serves a very small area.

When the baby girl and I checked into the hotel yesterday, I was informed that the hotel was booked solid as of today and that I would need to find other accommodations. I found another place down the road, closer to the airport which is handy for Wednesday morning when I fly back home, but I found out why the Holiday Inn is booked solid, previously I thought that it was due to the incoming freshmen, transfer students and their families. I was wrong, right before my taxi came to pick me up to bring me down the the Regency Hotel, a humongous tour bus pulled into the Holiday Inn and a HUGE tour group from either India or Pakistan came out of the bus and entered into the lobby. They are the ones who took over the hotel. I only wish that the group had been one person less, so that I could have stayed in my room not far from the baby girl, but who knows perhaps this is best. She is doing her own thing and I’m in my room doing my own thing and this is good preparation for Wednesday. This hotel is pretty nice for a boutique hotel.

Miami, we’re back

Tags

hotel, Miami, move in, postaday2013, university

We are back in Miami and this time the baby girl will be staying and I will be going home alone, sniff, sniff. It is going to be so hard to get on the plane alone, leaving her here, multiple states away, no longer only just an hour and a half away east towards Boston. Our baby girl will be fine I know, I have so much confidence in her, this is all about me, my worrying, my mothering and wanting to keep the baby girl in the nest a while longer. This is when my reliance on taking deep breaths comes into play, she will be fine, deep breath, she will be happy, deep breath, she will feel at home, deep breath.

That is all that every parent wants for their child, to go forth and be confident, be independent and try new things. However we all worry about the things that are beyond our control, the X factors that you can’t predict. This is when the leap of faith and a test of our parental lessons are in the balance, and you wait and see how well you did and more often than not you will be very happily surprised.

I am looking forward to see how these next few days unfold, I know that we will have fun together and everything will be fine.

Slowing down and resting weary feet

Tags

Coconut Grove, Miami, postaday2013, traveling

The running joke is that I broke the baby girl’s feet. Unfortunately, she is suffering from a few well placed and thus very painful blisters in her plantar areas. I went to CVS and came back armed with an antiseptic/analgesic and nice band-aids so let the healing commence.

Since we had the injured feet to deal with, we kept today quite low key, we took mass transit once again, but not for a long range adventure, we kept it simple and relatively local; Coconut Grove. We found the Cocowalk, a very pretty shopping area, a la Spanish style architecture and next door the Mayfair complex, under construction right now, but you can see how gorgeous it will be when finished. We had a filling lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and now we are back at the hotel resting the baby girl’s feet and me all over.

On the road again

Tags

flying, Miami, postaday2013, traveling, walking

The baby girl and I are once again traveling, this time to Miami, Florida, to make sure that the University of Miami is the best place for her and the place that she would rather be to continue her studies and cement her future in the study of Marine Biology. We arrived early this afternoon and we have been walking around reconnoitering , which is actually a French word “reconnaitre”, to better acquaint ourselves with the city. Monday we have an appointment with the powers that be and hopefully we will go back home with the definitive answer of her housing, her financial aid and her happiness with the city of Miami and her potential new school.

I have to say that when we got to the hotel, I went to my email, opened an alert about an article in the Huffington Post written by someone I follow, and I saw the headline “plane crash in San Francisco” It is really off-putting to read about an airplane crash just an hour after you get off your own plane. We even had turbulence taking off and landing and scary thoughts had crossed my mind.

We saw a lizard and I would have taken a picture, but I was too slow on the uptake. I saw a toad by myself on the way to CVS to get snacks, we have a refrigerator, and once again, I was too slow on the uptake. These little guys are quite feisty and I am not.