So that went better than anticipated. This morning during family breakfast (family breakfast meaning that Daddy was home to eat with us and the TV was off), the blizzard of 2016 and Mia’s nap we told the big girls about the move to Bangalore. M cried exactly one time when she realized she wouldn’t see her friends for 2 years, and E was too distracted by the snow outside to fully process what we were talking about, although her eyes grew wide when we mentioned that she would get to ride an elephant.

Based on what I know from studying child development and from what I have read in various parenting articles, I knew intellectually that it was probably better to disclose closer to the move itself. However, being from a family that was almost never forthcoming with information (although the intentions were always good ones), secrets weigh heavily on me. I hate them. I feel guilty for knowing things others don’t. With all the planning that goes into an international move D and I knew that we probably wouldn’t be able to keep this a secret from two observant 6 and 4 year olds, and we want them to feel involved and empowered as much as possible. So hence, the conversation this morning. And with all the snow outside and crazy weekend activities cancelled, we knew that we would have lots of time to answer any questions and help the girls to hopefully feel understood and listened to.

My favorite part of the discussion was when we were watching a YouTube video of kids touring India. M asked us to pause the video while she went to her room to look for something. She came back out and asked me where the “red thing is that I wear when I am a pirate.” No idea. But I absolutely love the enthusiasm and the need to dress for the occasion. M seemed very excited about the clothes and asked if she can have Indian clothing made for her like the kids in the video. That’s my girl. And Evie seemed very enthusiastic about the bindi that gets put on the forehead.

Both girls were excited and concerned by videos of the Holi festival we showed them on YouTube. They asked me several times if it was okay if they got their clothing dirty (my neat freak fault, I know, I know) when colors were thrown at them. And of course M asked if she could do her own colors to make her own design.