Happy Easter and Passover!
These past 3 weeks have been such a character-building journey. Husband is now back from his 3 week business trip; I’ve been a solo parent now during that time.
I think one of the most personally satisfying thingees I’ve had beaten into me with the force of the 16 ton Golden Muffin Anvil of Doom is the following:
No matter how insane business or parenting issues might become…stress is always reduced/eliminated when all parties take ownership of their emotions and communicate without any blame.
I am *so* proud of my kids; during the past 2 weeks they negotiated with me about their room changes, told me how they planned on making it happen, and then *did* what was required. When Honorable Son II realized he was totally in the wrong about Honorable Son 1 (ie, my Hell Froze Over update), he proactively apologized without my saying anything (still can’t believe that). When my eldests’ friend reached out to me for advice, Honorable Daughter 1 entertained her until yesterday’s webinar was over.
When I had to instigate massive consequences on HS2, the other siblings understood and supported it…and even more so, were willing to “intervene” with HS2 so he could truly *understand* how his actions affected the family.
When I began reacting passive-agressively during a *massive* talk with my eldest, she called me on it…and that gave *me* the opportunity to step *back* and communicate ‘way better. Yesterday when I was at the end of my rope in the evening, she and HG2 were there for me. And the whole ‘pitch together as a family and make things *work* stuff’….
Wow. And that doesn’t even include all of the character-buildingness of these 3 weeks of business; that would be a whole new update post! 🙂
So blessed I am. Life is very good indeed!
Grow strong,
Barbara Ling
