There are too many experiences to list them all for you. Everyday my children experience another piece of this thing called their ‘passport culture’, and we hope that one day when they must return to fly solo the pieces of the puzzle with come together and be less overwhelming.

So, today’s anecdotes about how our kids are learning and coping: Capri Suns and Vacuum Cleaners. Growing up with cement floors and little electricity means lots of sweeping and mopping… and no vacuum cleaners. After most of their lives overseas, both Joel and Anna are still terrified of these beastly machines. They just aren’t used to the loud noises. But then how could they be? For now, James is the designated chore vacuumer and his younger siblings run for cover.

Almost everyday I find people gazing curiously at my kids. Last week they were given Capri Sun juice pouches for the first time. After drinking them, they discovered the fun of puffing them full of air! Nearly balloons really. So then came the tilted head of a new acquaintance. And me explaining that they’ve never seen a Capri Sun before.

Everything is new. There is always something fun to discover. How mail works. How a dishwasher works. How clean water is at your fingertips in every drinking fountain. How fun it is to blow dry your hands in a public restroom, or drive thru a restaurant and have yummy food and toys thrown into your car. Or blow up Capri Suns like balloons.

So when you see my kids doing something strange, just tilt your head a bit and I’ll explain once again, “They’ve never done this before.”

Capri Suns and Vacuum Cleaners by Kimberly is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International