Seven years

It's been exactly seven years since we moved to Canada and one year since I launched this blog, and what a year it's been!

Compared to this year's November, last year's was full of big plans and optimism, until Covid hit. There are still many plans and lots of optimism, but the plans are now short-term as it's really hard to know what tomorrow will bring, and the optimism, well, is safer now.

Our seventh year in Canada was definitely the most challenging of them all, given that we spent the majority of it at home, and away from our first home without being able to see our families. But it also included many special moments and events that would probably have looked different without the Corona.

I would like to celebrate our seven years anniversary here by sharing some of our achievements (big and small) from the past year. 7 achievements to be exact.

Achievement #1: Becoming citizens Although our children only had to be born in order to receive Canadian citizenship (an old trick), for Ofir and me it took 6 years, a language test, a citizenship test, and a fancy ceremony to reach this status. We've been treated as Canadians all along, but officially becoming citizens (at the end of 2019) is something that we've worked hard for, and so it felt good to finally have this final stamp of approval.

And the best part: we can vote now!

Achievement #2: A family visit At the very end of 2019 my dad visited Toronto and stayed with us during Hannukah and Christmas. Little did we know this would be the last visit from Israel (or anywhere else really) for a very very long time. Prior to this visit, the last time we saw our families was in May of 2019 when we went to Israel, so it's been almost a year and a half since we were pampered with family hugs, delicious Israeli food, and warm weather, and I think it's safe to say that we're a little homesick at this point. Living away from your family by choice is never easy, but being deprived of the ability to board a flight and see them face to face, makes this situation very frustrating. Reminiscing about this visit makes me happy, and hopefully, we can reunite with our families before we mark 2 years...

Achievement #3: Healthy and Happy kids

With school closing down in March, the kids were forced to stay home, and I was 'forced' to keep them happy and entertained (as if I had a choice, haha). With zero help available, in addition to being their parents, Ofir and I also became their full-time teachers, chefs, and entertainers, free of charge. Having spent 6 months at home with them was challenging, no doubt about that, and it has taken a toll on our mental health, as expected. But seeing how quickly my kids adjusted to this new crazy reality and knowing that even though they missed their friends they stayed happy for the most part of it meant the world to me. Happy and healthy. And that's a huge achievement.

Achievement #4: Best summer ever

Lockdown was still in effect around Springtime, but as soon as it started to get warmer outside, we made it our #1 goal to make the most of the nice weather, and have explored many of the stunning beaches and parks that Ontario has to offer. We like the outdoors and would have probably enjoyed them regardless of the virus, but thanks to it we made an extra effort to discover new places and opted for a beach day or a picnic at the park whenever we got a chance. Not being allowed to meet people indoors also helped :) We ended up having one of the best summers ever and made memories that will last forever, with the following being the biggest one.

Achievement #5: An epic road trip Our pre-Covid summer vacation was planned for June when we were supposed to meet our families in Portugal. The tickets were booked, the itinerary was ready, and literally the day we wanted to book the hotels, all flights were canceled. This was in March so we were still very optimistic and hoped that we can "get back to normal" soon enough.

WRONG!

As June approached, we felt more and more upset about not being able to make it to Portugal, which is when we decided that when life gives you lemons and cancel your flights, you pack them along with some other snacks, start the car, and go on an Epic 10 days road trip from Toronto to Quebec. One of the best vacations we had as a family, and a huge achievement for the 36 years old me who was afraid to spend so many hours in a car with 2 little hurricanes named Eve and Tom.

Achievement #6: 'Homeschooling' Tom Tom was supposed to move from the infant room to the toddler room at daycare exactly a week after everything was closed. I was counting on his teachers to take charge of his education and teach him all the stuff that toddlers know but instead ended up having him at home for almost 6 months. Wait, what? Am I supposed to teach my son, my own flesh and blood, the human I gave birth to, how to do things? I'm used to sending a baby to daycare and receiving back a walkie-talkie-doing-a-bunch-of-new-things child. Thank God for Pinterest for being my assistant and providing me with countless ideas for how to keep Tom busy and make sure he develops the right skills. I can now add 'teacher' to my list of achievements.

Achievement #7: Eve starting SK Too much change, too little time. Of the four of us, I think that Eve was most impacted by the changes that Covid brought into our lives. It might have to do with the fact that's she's more sensitive than the rest of us, or simply because she's 5 years old. We are 'old' and can cope better with such changes, and Tom, well, he had just turned one before it all started. Going back to school and starting SK (Senior Kindergarten) was not easy for Eve. She LOVES school and was more than happy to reunite with some of her old friends, but at the same time, she had to go through many changes in a very short period of time. In just one day (of going back to school) she suddenly had to: meet her new teachers without seeing their faces, wear a mask throughout the day, eat in class instead of at the gym, wash her hands multiple times a day, carry an extra mask, a disinfecting gel and many more in her fanny pack, and worst of all, wear a fanny pack!

Thanks to her kind and happy self, as scary and challenging as it was, she adjusted quickly and now wears her fanny pack daily. And it only took me a month to find a purple-girly-unicorn-themed fanny pack, which is an achievement of itself.

I never thought I would celebrate 7 years in a foreign country, but then again, I also never thought I will wear a mask to see my friends and work from my dining table for 10 months (and counting).

Life is full of surprises.