We’re coming up on one year in Singapore. It’s been a great year with some big ups and big downs.

Before moving here, I had the idea that we’d feel restless and cooped up on this small island. But it hasn’t been that way at all.

Singapore is constantly changing. Not in the sense of everything becoming rundown, old, decrepit, or going stale. Rather, Singapore undergoes constant renewal.

Buildings no more than 30-40 years old get torn down and new, fancy, rainbow colored lighted megastructures with futuristic glass pods (like the new Ion Orchard shopping mall) are built up in a flash. So fast that we can’t even remember what was there last week let alone last year.

(For example, what was there in the basement of Terminal 3 at Changi Airport before Each A Cup took over? Bubble tea seems on the verge of making a comeback here.)

Our family is changing just as quickly as Singapore. Baby Megan is almost 13 months old. She stands, dances (in one spot), takes a few steps, cries with fury when scorned, and joins in all the fun. Stephen is alm041ost seven-years-old and growing more sensible by the day. He swims like a dolphin, calculates his finances like any miser, reads Captain Underpants with sly delight, and lives to have fun. Even though I thought I’d never forget how the kids were and how it felt to be with them at that moment, in that moment, we can barely remember what either of them were like a year ago. Pictures and videos are very precious indeed.

And as life continues to change, we quickly take the new and improved for granted. Instead of remembering when it was so hard to find what we wanted, whether it be favorite foods, magazines, or books, I sigh when there’s no ricotta cheese at NTUC Fairprice. Instead of marveling at how much less frustrated I am as a parent, I sigh over the stomp of a foot or a single whine.

I’ve finally learned that it’s all small stuff. No big deal.

In the past 12 months, change has brought improvement. Even the worst experiences have turned out to be for the better. I am grateful that change brought us to Singapore and that Singapore is undergoing change. We appreciate and enjoy being here every single day.

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