Settling in a new town

Community BBQ and decorating discussion :)

Networking with others and being part of family and the wider community has always been something that is important to me. Before I had children I was living in a flat in the same neighbourhood as where I grew up. I like to know who I am living near, so it was really nice when we moved into our new flat in Palmerston North and found an information pack for new residents including the names of neighbourhood community organisers and a how-to on building compost heaps. The boys and I took great joy in constructing our own compost bin soon after, helping to count, match and hand-tighten nuts and bolts, hiding inside the empty bin, and foraging for dry leaves and sticks to form a base for our compost pile.

We had been here a couple of days when the next door neighbour came over to introduce herself. I'd have ventured out earlier but my husband had come down with hand, foot and mouth and we weren't sure of the status of the children. Starting to go out and meet up with people has been put on the back burner since we got here for fear that we might transmit the dreaded lurgy.

The weekend after we arrived we were invited down to the corner for a BBQ and kōrero about a seat that has been built on the outside of the fence down the end of the street. We were invited to contribute ideas about how we should decorate it. The boys had fun climbing on the newly built seat, and A. discussed his ideas for the colour-scheme with neighbours from up the street. S. wanted to have ago at painting, and started to decorate the picnic table before anyone noticed. The paint was cleaned off before it had a chance to dry, and the neighbours were very understanding and saw the funny side of it.

The boys clearly loved being involved. They have often commented that they would like to go to another BBQ and mentioned how much they enjoyed our neighbour's banana loaf. Clearly the quickest way to a child's affections is through the stomach.

We are really looking forward to getting to meet and spend time with more people. Today I had the second request for us to go out and see someone, and now we are past the contagion we can start inviting visitors over. Our first (non-family) visitor is expected tomorrow afternoon!