Go read the Disclaimer again. I am not a doctor. This is not medical advice. Seriously.
By the time we moved back to Brookline, we had travelled with Teddy across country several times. We were eager to return -- and also dreading what we might find.
I had been very upset with Roland during the move from Brookline to Seattle. Roland had not agreed to quit Intel much in advance of our move, and at the last minute, for reasons which did not pan out, he decided to work the last few days before our departure. I had to pack nearly everything we took with us that went into boxes as we did the move ourselves. A good friend of ours helped load the furniture and boxes into the rental van, but the whole process took longer than expected and we left late and were stressed as a result.
With this in mind, I was adamant that would would (a) hire movers, (b) hire packers, (c) move me and Teddy into a hotel before major packing operations started and (d) Roland would be home to supervise. I squelched all efforts to modify any component of this plan vigorously.
Roland had been moved by Digital Equipment Corporation to and from Illinois when he took some time off to get a Masters Degree in Computer Science. He had had a very good experience, but those movers referred us to another relocation service. Having by this time a pretty good idea of what was involved in packing up and moving stuff across country, I did not experience much sticker shock. Roland recovered. I got a hotel (a Homewood Suites) with a full kitchen near the Seattle Center and its Children's Museum and Pacific Science Center. I figured with those in walking distance, Teddy and I could entertain ourselves without needing the car, which would be shipped. I had made a minor effort to sell it on craigslist and failed. I did sell the table. I did not sell the bed, which came back to Brookline with us. The takeaway on that was that cheap things sell faster than expensive things on craigslist, independent of the relationship of asking price to value.
Other than some keys being at the hotel when Roland needed them at the apartment across town (after the car had been shipped), the move went quite smoothly. I was not impressed by the guy they had sent out to do the estimate, but I packed all the books myself, since I was giving away most of the bookcases. The weight came out okay, but we'd have been way over the estimate and a day or more late in leaving if they'd had to pack all the books. Because our flight was on Southwest, and we moved after Labor Day weekend, I was not concerned about having to spend more if we had to shift our ticket, which, in the event, we did not.
Toddlers like to get into things. The moving boxes were a constant challenge. Most of the packing I did (books, things we wouldn't need before leaving, things we might not need for a while after we got to Brookline, etc.) had to be done while he was asleep, or out of the apartment with someone else. Once we were back in Brookline, the same was true in reverse, only without any child care other than Roland and I. Fortunately, he had not planned to go back to work (telecommuting) for about a month, which was almost enough time to get things under conrol. In the event, he interviewed for, was offered, and accepted a job at AMD in the interim (Cray did not pay for the move back to Brookline, so no guilt or money owed there).
More importantly, while Teddy is a great traveler, and very adaptable, he is able to be so adaptable because his attachments are to us, not to places and things and routines. But when everything changes around him, he becomes very, very clingy to make sure we're not leaving, too.
Once we were in Brookline, I got kind of paranoid about getting enough exercise, especially in the winter, which I know can be tough (although as it turned out, the winter of 2006/2007 was quite mild). I ordered a Bowflex folding treadmill, which I was willing to put in the basement once Roland figured out what the problem was. Roland added a wind trainer for one of his old bicycles, set up a TV on one of the new shelving units he bought, and added a small table for books, magazines, drinks. We had a mini-gym in our basement, which was great. Especially when Teddy was sick and therefore couldn't be dropped off at the nursery at the health club we joined, but I did have a couple hours of child care some of which could be used to watch him while I got a workout.
We also joined Hampshire Hills, probably several months too early, since we rarely went from when we joined in September through the end of the year. However, they do have a nursery and Teddy loves hanging out with other kids. They have several pools, for family hangout or for me to swim a mile. They also have a bunch of machines and numerous classes and other facilities I don't make particular use of. Teddy adapted very quickly to the nursery, which was very convenient for me, especially since it costs only a couple dollars or so per hour. Best of all, it's all of 10 or 15 minutes from home, so Teddy doesn't flip out on the way there and only sometimes falls inconveniently asleep on the way home (inconvenient when it's too cold to let him continue his nap in the car, and he wakes up before he is successfully transitioned to a bed indoors).
Travel and the holiday season disrupted my efforts to get regular exercise, but between the health club and the basement gym, even with severely curtailed child care support, I am still able to get a reasonable amount of exercise. Possibly more than in Seattle, altho I do miss martial arts.
A General Discussion of Moving
Copyright 2007 by Rebecca Allen.
Created February 20, 2007 Updated February 20, 2007