The Adventures of Bean and Gerbie

Sounds like a children’s book right? I have always thought of writing children’s literature, stemming back to my Elementary Education training in college. But I am not a writer, so the thoughts just wiggle around in the back of my mind and never go any farther. For those of you that know us well, you know that Bean and Gerbie are the nicknames for our girls. The nicknames occurred naturally, and both have stories as to how they were started. The girls love that they have nicknames, in fact the older girl (that would be Bean), knows when we are being serious with her because we call her by her real name, and not her nickname. From here on out, I will be referring to them in the blog by these nicknames, as it is going to be easier than calling them “the older one” and the “little one”, and since this is an open blog, I would prefer not to use their name for privacy purposes. Now, getting back to the “adventure” part of the blog title - part of our excitement for this great adventure in England is that the girls will get to experience a new culture, and see a lot of places that some people never get to see in their lives. And they will get to do this with the wonder and delight that is a natural part of being a child. Yes, they may not remember everything, hence the blog and the pictures that will be taken. I am hoping to put enough of their adventures into writing for them so that we can capture these experiences for them to remember. We have not yet told them that we are moving, we will be telling them when daddy has to leave in a few weeks. I want to make sure we handle this in the right way, to make this transition as easy as possible for them. They are leaving behind their school, their friends, their house, their dog. We will be taking as many of their toys, bedroom furniture and stuffed animals as possible. I want them to at least be surrounded by their comfort items. And they will of course have mommy and daddy. I think that as long as they have us and their things, this will help. Gerbie is almost 2, she will not really understand, it is Bean I am the most worried about. At 5, she will understand what the move means. She has some wonderful friends at school that we have play dates with and two boys (yes, two) that she wants to “marry” much to daddy’s dismay. Earlier this year we had to change her to a new school, and that may have actually benefited us a little now, we can explain that it will be similar, that she will meet new friends, and fit in right away. Now, how to explain that she will talk differently than the other kids???? Anyway, I will be writing in this blog about the adventures of Bean and Gerbie, I am sure there will be many! Maybe I will even be inspired to finally jot down some stories for a children’s book –The Adventures of American Bean and Gerbie in England!