Moving

We found out this week that we are going to have to move. :(
Sometimes, being a renter really just sucks. I'm a permanence, deep rooter,
sentimental type of person at times, and I tend to become attached to where I live.
I take time and care to decorate. I've spent nearly two years decorating our house and I was just getting started. All while knowing it's just a rental and I'm going to move someday. I can't help myself. It becomes a compulsion.

When the Dictator heard we were moving, she didn't quite get it at first. She thought we were going on vacation. She asked if we could live in the castle at Disneyland with Cinderella. She also asked if we could eat ice cream and turkey legs every day. Her poor little sad eyes when I said no were only trumped by my own sad eyes. I'd love to live inside Disneyland!

I could tell that the news was starting to sink in and she has been slowly absorbing it and finding her own level of understanding with it. She started telling people "We are moving!" "I don't know where to!" I laugh, because as of right now, I don't know where to either!

I told her to consider it a game and a new adventure. That's what you're supposed to say, right? Yes...I think I read that on a parenting blog somewhere.... It seems like sound advice. I also told her that she could paint her new room pink. SHE could pick which color pink she wanted and SHE could help paint with her own brush. Suddenly, moving became much more lucrative and exciting. Every shade of pink we've seen the past few days has sparked much discussion over whether it's 'the right pink' or not. I can tell this is going to be a difficult decision and I anticipate many tense hours spent pacing the paint section at Home Depot looking at little swatches.

I never really realized though, that my daughter, who rarely takes after me at all, is also a decorator.
While using the potty today, she pointed up the large wall in our bathroom and said "Where did the butterflies go?" We had some butterfly art in frames that we had just taken down the night before as a start to operation:We must pack quickly or die trying. I told her they were packed for the new house and we'd have to find a new space for them. The Dictator said "But Mom! They go on that wall in this bathroom! They will not look right somewhere else! We should put them back!"I could see the OCD wheels turning in her head, because I too, worry that they will not look right anywhere else. In the end a compromise was reached and we put one frame back up, because "The bathroom looked naked without pictures."

I'm anticipating that the Dictator and I are going to have many decorating wars in the new house.

I was also anticipating that the Dictator might have a hard time adjusting to the idea of moving, and may get stressed when we do relocate. My fears were somewhat put to rest today though when I overheard her talking to her fish "Belle". Who is a male fish. Who lives in a pink castle. It's a sad life for Belle.
She told Belle- "Belle! Guess what?! I get to move to a new house! I get to paint my room pink!! I can't wait! I hate my room! It's sooooo ugly! Now I don't have to sleep in it! I get to sleep in pink!"