Moving: it’s such a hassle. The whole idea of going to a new place is exiting and finding a new home is as well. The packing and unpacking, however, is a nightmare. Yes, I did go through all my stuff before boxing it up and tried to throw out as much as possible. So why, when it comes to unpacking am I left wondering why on earth I’m still carrying around a box with old school notes?

It’s only when I sit down and start reading that I begin to understand. These were the notes that we passed around in class about 25 years ago (being able to write that makes me feel old!) – and they crack me up. Life was all about who you sit next to on the bus, who gets invited to the party of the popular boy and fights between girls because ‘she ignored her and then she thought that it was because of that and then she thought it was on purpose….’
How can I possibly get rid of these – this is my past. These totally irrelevant conversations written on various scraps of paper made me the person I am today. Not being asked to dance by the popular boy gave me the opportunity to find the one I am with today.

But hang on. Am I romanticizing this box of teenage angst? My kids (both boys) will probably not be interested in this very girl-related stuff anyway. So why do I keep it, moving the box around with me through all these years?

Maybe no reasons are required. And whatever the case, I can’t toss them out now. I will store the box at the back of a cupboard (again) and will go through it when organizing our next move (again). So, until that time and when I come across it (doubtless looking for something else at the back of the cupboard), I will simply think of it as ‘the box that made me who I am’.

Roos Kriek, dutch mum of two children, aged 2 years and 5 months, moved to Dubai two months ago and has been writing for her own blog magontheblog.com for 2 years now. She now contributes to seashellsonthepalm.com .