tbjkids

I love learning Chinese. Well, actually, that’s a total lie. I like learning obscure words much more than important ones. I don’t know how to say “bed” in Chinese but I do know how to say “bumper car” (碰碰车).

Anyway, I was in Beijing for about three months when one of the students I was teaching introduced me to a Chinese proverb that really hit home with me. The student was going to be leaving my class, and I was sad to see him go.

天下没有不散的筵席
tian xia mei you bu san de yan xi

“There isn’t a banquet in the world that doesn't come to an end.”

My time at tbjkids has come to an end today; I’ve eaten my fill, I’ve had an amazing time meeting so many great families and hearing their stories, but my taxi has arrived and it’s really time for me to make a move. Thanks so much to everyone who has helped out with the magazine for the past 18 months and I hope to see it grow and mature a lot more in the future.

I will never forget the day both my children turned one.

More than any of the precious birthday anniversaries to ensue, there is something about turning one that changes everything. It is a morphing from infanthood to childhood. It is a milestone time of enormous leaps and bounds. It is a time to celebrate an emerging personality and individuality, slowly unfurling and spreading its lanky legs into the world.

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