What a hectic week in our house last week! I picked my son up from the airport on Saturday night and from then on we never stopped until the following Saturday.
With the Thanksgiving holiday we already had plans to spend the day out of town with family but throw in there all the running around that normally goes with the holiday and having all the kids in the house for a week and what a week. The two in school still had sports practices even when school was out, and that meant trips back and forth to school. With my oldest home from college and no car, that meant car sharing or dropping him off and picking him up from everywhere. He was able to get rides to some places but I think he filled every hour of his week home with plans with someone. I think he slept at home only half the time he was home.
We spent a nice holiday surrounded by family. It was a time filled with laughter, smiles and plenty of food and drinks. It seems to me that we should be able to find reasons throughout the year to do this more than once. It is nice to spend the time with family just enjoying each other without worrying about gifts, travel and other "reasons" to get together.
On the first weeknight that we were all home, we all got home late from the high school open house and while I was trying to throw together a quick dinner, my oldest actually sat in the kitchen with me for almost an hour talking about everything. He did not turn on the TV or any video games, he actually hung out in the kitchen talking with Mom! That was the best hour of the whole week and I would not trade that time for anything.
It was that same night that my daughters boy friend was over and later some of my oldest son's friends showed up at the house. The house was full of laughter, chaos and smiles. For a snapshot moment, all in the universe was wonderful and my life was absolutely perfect. I would not trade that moment for any amount of money or trinkets in the world. I would not have even traded our situation for that either, because if it was not for the experiences that we have been through, I would not fully appreciate that moment.
Life is good! It is not perfect and it will never be, but there are some moments that are closer than others. I am not sure what the future holds for us all, but I do know that it is certainly not all bad. There is no way that a house full of such joy and energy could be anything but a bright spot. I have tried to raise my children to look toward the future, strive for greatness, look to the positive in any situation, and model that behavior myself. They say that when you do something long enough, it becomes a habit, so this has become the natural routine in our house and for that we are now seeing the benefits.
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I have been following your blog for some time, quietly but intently, and I am so glad you have had some much deserved relaxing and uplifting time to remind you of all the good you have. May you and your family have beautiful times together this holiday season. My husband will be beginning his 2-year prison term December 20 so we will be enjoying our Christmas festivities with his two young children from a previous relationship (3 and 7) this coming weekend and while it is sure to be beautiful and we will make memories to last, I cannot help but to let my everyday attitude and outlook be dampered by the thought of our upcoming situation. Do you have any advice for transitioning into life alone?
ReplyDeleteGod Bless you & your family.
My husband was originally remanded in January, so Christmas that last year was difficult. We tried not to think about the upcoming events, it was hard not to though. I took a bunch of photos, and we all spent as much time together as possible. It was scary not knowing what the future held and yet here we are getting to the end.
ReplyDeleteMy best piece of advice is to just take it one day at a time. Don't keep looking forward to the future. Just get through one day. Find something to be thankful for each day and focus on the positive. There will be enough other things to remind you of the negative. I printed out a calendar showing the days until he would come home, but I would keep myself so busy, that when I would look at it, I would find I had weeks to cross off at any given time. I was nice to cross out a few weeks instead of just one day.
As for life alone...keep yourself surrounded by as many supportive people as possible. Falling asleep at night is the worst, but create a routine and struggle through it. With a 2 year time frame it will be over before you know it. Good luck.