Tangles and knots

A house wife’s rumblings on time management and cultural differences;

My mind looks just like this room, all muddled and cluttered. “Your phone number, please?” the cashier asks politely, and since my mind looks just like this room, I can’t pull the number out of its drawer. There are no drawers. Only clutter. “I just moved to a new flat”, I try to explain while looking for the palm in my bag. I’ve (obviously) forgot it at home. “Oh dear”, I apologize, “this is so silly”. My head looks just like this room.

“Why doesn’t she arrange all this mess?” you might ask, “why can’t this woman manage her time properly?

Well, let me try to explain. Unlike in Israel, where the children spend 8 hours a day at the nursery and that’s considered both the norm and the best thing for them, Canada has a very complicated education system that I didn’t manage to decipher yet. The norm here is to send the child to the nursery for two and a half hours a day. Sometimes after the nursey the children are taken to a day care. Daniel spends 2 hours and 45 minutes at the nursery daily. With the time it takes to bring him there and take him back I am left with no time at all. In Israel I’ve insisted on taking Daniel to nap at home, but was always scolded by both parents and teachers for making him “Different” then the other kids. Over here, when I tell that to people, they think that the children spend so much time together because Israel’s society is traditional, or more tribal.
So what do families where both parents work do? You might wonder. Well, I didn’t solve this riddle yet. There are places that have a full day program for children, they are called “Day Care”, but for some reason are not appreciated. A nanny that takes the child home after nursery would be a better solution, and the best would be a parent.  Do women work less then man? I have to figure out that one yet.

So, I have no time.

Then there’s the Supermarket issue: our nearest supermarket, which is a big and comfortable one, doesn’t have a delivery service. “What is that?” asked the cashier, “a delivery service, someone to carry the groceries to my home”, I tried to explain. No, they don’t have a delivery service. So I end up doing shopping three times a day, one visit for  milk, the next for flour and bread, and the third for oranges and eggs. And the Super is big and cold and I wander between the isles for hours trying to find a bottle of ketchup and miss Misha.

The Canadians are incredibly tough people, so it seems to me.

So the house is a mess and my head too and I am stealing time right now writing all this and feel a constant pressure caused by my lack of time.

And I am truly sorry for burdening you with my trifles, but my mind is all tangles and knots and that's the only thing it managed to produce.

And here’s a fabulous link I found at Superhero’s.

Comments

[Georgy]

You are brave and wonderful.
I visit you often - well, I visit your site often.
I like to read your adventures. I hope you adjust to these very different circumstances soon - golly, it seems like you landed on an entirely different planet.

I am always wishing the very best for you.
Brilliant Day!
Georgy

[hadas]

Thanks so much Georgy. Brilliant day to you too!