The great Australian Dream

Google it, the great Australian Dream.

What does it tell you?

Australians want to own their own home. They want to buy a house, pay a mortgage and own their own home.
Obviously its a dream! Who doesn't want to own a house, pay it off and one day live mortgage free in their own home, the home they watched their kids grow up in, the home that sore their kids walk, talk and play for the first time.

I have a home like this, its seen my kids walk, talk, laugh and cry. Its seen my kids birthdays, its watched me plan a wedding and its heard endless hours of laughter. My pictures are on the walls, my clothes hang in the wardrobe and my kids toys decorate the floors.

But guess what? This home isn't "mine". I dont own this home. Someone else does. I pay them for the ability to live here. Im deeply in the "rent trap" or so they call it. 

Let me tell you my thoughts on this. For years and I literally mean YEARS, I have been renting and feeling like a failure. I moved out with my MR when I was 19 years old, I was pregnant at 20 and had my first baby at 21. We have never ever asked for money and have 100% supported ourselves since this time. We pay rent, childcare and a car loan every week. Leaving us with enough money to live but not enough money to save for a house deposit.

So I felt like a failure. I wasn't focusing on all the amazing things we have achieved, instead I focused on the one thing I didn't have. It ate me up in time. I felt I was letting my kids down because I wasn't supplying them with their own home.

It has only been in the last couple of weeks I realised just how ridiculous this is. Home is where the heart is. Home is the roof over our heads, the kids dont know the difference between a house we own and a house we rent. And with that, brief thought...I took a breath. I smiled and I realised how wonderful life is. There are 100 million homeless people in the world and a further 1.6 Billion who live in substandard housing, and here I am complaining about not owning my own house, how ridiculous.

MR and I sat down and had a deep conversation about our future. We have decided that we are going to work to enjoy our life, not work to pay off debt. We have decided we are going to show our kids the world through our eyes, so we can see the world through theirs.

We have decided that for the next 10 years, buying a house is not going to be a priority but instead living our lives is! We are going to travel. We are going to work hard and then we are going to travel.

Our first stop is going to be JAPAN. We are going in March next year....cherry blossom season. Its been our dream for years and from now on , we are going to make our dreams a reality.

So here we are, a new lease on life, The Great Burgess dream! and this is just a small step on what is going to be a fantastic journey. So please follow along and enjoy the ride.

Have you been to Japan? Do you have any must see things? Whats your family dream?

The big disconnect to reconnect

Lets get brutal and honest right now...brutally honest I suppose youd say.

Since ive started work, ive become a different person. Ive become a different mother. And Im not happy within myself anymore. Part of the reason im writing this blog I suppose. Its all about the journey.

Once upon a time id wake in the mornings, Id snuggle my babies, Id spend the day being crafty, playing imagination games, baking and generally having fun. I loved my days, I was connected with my children. We had fun.
In the interest of honesty, I still had bad days. I still had days where the moment my MR walked through the door, Id give him the children and go and hide for 5 minutes in silence. I still had days where I wasnt sure I was a good, meaningful, capable mum. But those days were significantly more numbered than they are now.

Now, my days go a little bit like this. I get up and check my phone, I go out on to the couch and makes the kids breakfast, then I sit, I watch tv, I sit on my phone. I dont connect with my children like I used too. Im tired alot, the days I have off now, I spend cleaning or cooking or generally feeling sorry for me.

THIS ENDS NOW!

I am now on leave, I want to spend this time with my children, I want to dive in, get dirty, have fun and really appreciate my childrens smiles, memorise their laughter. Ignore the mess and just connect.

So thats the plan. We will have days at home, building forts, baking, painting, pasting! we will have days out and about, visiting the park, the zoo and other local places.

Im going to spend less time mindlessly searching social media, missing the wonderful things right in front of me.

This is a big part of my journey and I cant wait to share it with you.

Do you have any hints and tips for recconecting? Have you ever been through anything like this?