About six weeks ago, we put our house on the market, and it’s been a little disruptive to our lives ever since. Every weekend we have taken the kids down Agnes’ parents’ house so that Agnes and I could clean up the house and make it presentable for an Open House for each day of the weekend. Every day we made the fifty minute drive to see the kids between their nap and their bedtime before returning to our house. Their Sunday nap was at my parents’ house, and then they returned to our house to start the week.
This scheduled became more complicated after Labor Day when the kids started school in the city where we want to move. It meant that in addition to this weekend schedule, we were driving twenty miles (twenty-five minutes in the morning, forty-five minutes in the evening) to shuttle the kids between school and home. Finally, this past weekend, we moved into an apartment close to the new school. Theoretically, by not living at the house, it should always be in a presentable state for prospective buyers.
Something that’s been lost in this disruption to our routine is the fact that suddenly, we’re no longer in our house. This is the first house we bought, and it’s the only house that the kids have ever known. While it has some quirks, it’s a cute house, and it makes me sad that we’re never really going back to it.
Miranda said earlier this week that she wanted to go back to “607” (the street number for our house) and that she didn’t like our new house (apartment). Agnes has been trying to convince her that the swimming pool makes the new place better, but I’m not sure she’s buying it. She’s been moody. I don’t think my attitude has helped because of my own feelings of displacement. I’m also not a fan of the low popcorn ceilings in the apartment and the sloppy glossy paint job on the walls, but it’s just a temporary arrangement.
In a week or two, I’m sure we’ll get settled in and establish a new routine. We’re still seeking out restaurants and parks and the like. The kids won’t be shipped off to their grandparents. And ideally, we’ll sell our house soon, buy a new one, move, and get started with the rest of our lives.