How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.
Thomas Meeha
–
Goodbyes are as unavoidable as death and taxes, but they don’t have to be painful. In fact, I like to think they can be celebrated. In the month leading up to our departure, we chose to share our plans with not just our immediate family, but our community at large. We were invited to speak at the local co-working space (Quincy Collective,) where sharing our crazy scheme in public was invigorating. We helped facilitate building a model boat as a project-based-learning activity for our son Jaxon’s kindergarden class, AND perhaps the most fun, we hired a DJ and hosted a dance party for our friends.
The whole thing was pretty festive! Tears were shed, but mostly lots of hugging, laughing and well wishing.
Diego created a video to share, and we’ll be making a new one every week. I’ve also shared some photos from our final days at home. Thanks for following, we feel like we’re crowd surfing the love and support coming in from literally all over the globe! If we can do this, ANYone can do this!
Don’t let fear stop you!
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The finished project with Jaxon’s class. A HUGE thank you to Inge Stock and Lindsey Kimzey for including us in your classroom family and igniting a curiosity and love of learning in Jaxon I could have never imagined. It’s actually a lot of pressure for me to live up to now…thanks Inge! Would have been easier if I was one of those homeschooling, public-school bashing fanatics! Truth be told I am a huge advocate for charter schools. I have nothing but praises to sing for this incredible group of educators. From the administration to the boots on the ground in the classroom–the crew at Plumas Charter School is inspiring!
J man cutting out the sail like a boss.
The glue crew working on the spine of the boat. Nothing sets a kindergardener on fire like glue!
Inge organized experiments for how the boat works. We talked about wind and sails and propelling the boat with nature. The water tests were a big hit. There might have been a few spit breezes…
Discussing the results of the wind experiments.
To introduce the idea of geographic distance, Inge put up a world map and was able to use Jaxon’s departure as way to introduce not only spatial awareness, but also emotional intelligence. Saying goodbye to someone we love is an inevitable part of life, and learning how to express our feelings a monumental part of being human. Our classmates made a beautiful memoir for Jaxon. They each drew a picture and dictated a sentence to Inge about why they liked Jaxon. Absolutely precious.
We’re keeping in touch with Jaxon’s and Serafina’s peer group by Skyping and sending home video dispatches. Jaxon is in kindergarden and Serafina is in preschool. The jury is still out on wether or not we will enroll in the children in local schools during our time in Barcelona. Next week we hope to get more clarity on what the process for such a move might be. I’ll share what we discover.
