We’re not sure how you’re supposed to prepare a three-year-old for a major move, but we’ve decided to go the route of talking about it constantly so that when it’s upon him at least he won’t be surprised. For months we’ve been explaining the steps to him — first getting ready for the movers, then the movers, then the hotel while our house is empty, then the airplane, then the new house. So with that sort of build-up I suppose it shouldn’t be a surprise that Flynn woke up in the middle of the night the day before our pack-out asking, “Are the movers here yet?” in excited anticipation. He proceeded to wait by the doorway until they were.

I’m ashamed to admit that when a team of three petite female movers showed up in a very small van, I feared for the worst. Our pack-out was scheduled to take two days, and afterwards we had appointments with floor people, handymen, cleaners, the property management company. The schedule was tight, with no room to spare. How could these three women and their small truck possibly finish moving everyone out of our very full house in just two days?

It turned out the women’s job was to pack everything. That small truck was holding all the boxes they’d need to do so. A larger truck and twice as many male movers would come the following day to haul everything away.

In the end, those three petite women wrapped and packed everything in time to be out the door promptly at 5 p.m. We were sure the men would only have to work a half day. After all, everything was basically done — they just had to carry it all outside. But nope, they were there finishing up until 8 p.m.

Shame on me for having doubted the abilities of those petite female movers.

So our stuff is gone, our house is empty, and our many, many suitcases are stacked high in hotel closets. We are officially betwixt and between.

In somewhat related news, Jonah has transitioned from taking clumsy steps that only sometimes get him across the room to a fully capable little walker. We realized that Flynn learned to walk while staying in an extended stay hotel too. I guess that’s life for third culture kids.