Confession : When I sing in the shower, I sing silly kid songs. I sing about hippos eating too many cookies and cakes. I trill over bow-legged chickens and knock-kneed hens.
I wrote children’s poetry in college. (A deep secret of mine is to publish some of them one day.)
And I was constantly asked if I was going to work with kids one day.
I love Fridays. They’re always so busy and so exciting because we all know what’s coming next. Saturday!
I got an email from my old German teacher in Berlin. She asked how we were doing, when we might be coming back, and most importantly… how much have I been practicing my German?!
Oh boy. Her email was in German, and she specifically commented (in German): Katie, you are required to write back to me! And you have to do it IN GERMAN.
Long before I started studying German, I used to write a lot of poetry for kids. Those of you who have been following Making This Home for a while have seen some of my poems here and there. Writing children’s poems seems like a past life, right along with flying an airplane and eating Mexican food. I guess when you move to a new country, you do sort of lead two lives. Every once and a while, the two merge in my heart.
The yucky, wet weather we’ve been having in Berlin makes me oh-so-thankful that we have a simple policy at our house: take your shoes off. I can’t imagine how dirty and now – muddy! – our floors would be if we didn’t take our shoes off at the entryway.
My favorite habits are the kind that make life simpler.
We have things pretty easy around here. Everyone takes off her shoes at the door in Germany. Very few people do in the United States, so it can be kind of awkward to ask people to take off their shoes. That’s why I was so glad to hear from Michelle. She lives in the US and also wanted to find a way to ask people to take off their shoes.
With the approach of Easter, I wanted to take a deep breath today. I hope you can all do the same. Enjoy your families, yourself, your chocolate (?)… Oh gosh. Here are some of the things on my mind these days as I try to capture the small things in life before we head off for the next adventure (stay tuned for another clue after Easter!).
This poem was started the day before Easter one year ago. It’s a very lose style compared to most poems I write if you might notice. I’d nearly forgotten about it until today. I just finished it.
We’re still working like crazy over here with our next reveal. Can I distract you with a poem in the meantime?
I love seeing little girls in Easter bonnets every spring. They’re always smiling and tugging on their little hats. This quick poem popped into my mind fairly fast. Coming up with complete poems in my head doesn’t happen very often, so I hope this one can give you a quick smile on your Sunday:
I’m an American splitting life between a 480 square foot apartment in Berlin, Germany and – get this – a house made of old tires in the Rocky Mtns.
This blog chronicles the journey of Making This Home.Meet Katie.
