Can your kids have a normal life in the Foreign Service?

  When we were contemplating this life change, one of our biggest worries was that we wouldn't be able to give our kids a traditional American upbringing. They had become accustomed to playing outside, walking to their friends' houses and enjoying the freedom that comes along with living in a sleepy little suburban village. They walked to elementary school, their soccer games were essentially in our back yard (the fields were that close) and I never had to drive anyone to a play date since there were @ 20 kids in our cul de sac, half of which were near the same age as my own boys. Bliss.

  Looking back to my own childhood I realized I didn't always have that. My parents were divorced and we moved often. By the time I was 17 I had had 23 "homes" and 8 different schools. I turned out ok, right? My husband also lived a somewhat nomadic life as a child. Born in Scotland, moved to Germany, shipped back to Scotland for boarding school, then India, then back to Scotland. So, our sense of normal was a bit different.

Rather than go into the details of how it is possible to raise great kids and give them a "normal" childhood, I threw together some pictures.  After all, they are worth a thousand words right?

They get new school clothes

Go to the airport

Try new shops

Have birthday parties with new friends

Play Monopoly Kiwi Style

Check out the web

Go to school

Make new friends from different cultures

Have a track and field day with their mates (this boy is a class mate of Ewan's and our neighbor)

Win the long jump (ok, 2nd place) 

Go to the beach

Go on hikes

Endure their parent's boring cook outs 

Play soccer

Take Guitar lessons

Play in their school band

So, yeah, it is possible to have a "normal childhood", only better.