Little Guy had a tough adjustment to our move. We have a special formula we (mainly me) follow each day to keep him comfortable and happy. In addition to his five sets of eye-drops of three medications, we shower him with affection and praise each night before bedtime. It does not guarantee he will sleep through the night, but it has been proven effective. There is nothing that warms my heart more than watching Mad Dog make over Little Guy. It is the sweetest.
Little Guy gets a lot of leeway during the day. He is allowed to be cranky. He is allowed to be snippy. He is allowed to beg and whine for food at the table.
He can do anything he wants.
Most of the time he chooses to nap. This makes it easy for everyone.
I am surprised at how unquestioning my devotion is to him. I do not judge him for his cranky missteps.
He has followed me around enough through the five years we’ve had him to earn this loyalty.
He shows me what love can teach us.
Be true, be loyal and you will always, always be loved.
Yet, my whole life has changed as we create a new life in a new place. I’ve done pretty good considering I’m change-resistant (please don’t verify this with Mad Dog, let me hold on to this one, tiny little dream). However, if you are reading this Mad Dog, please stop sending workers of various sorts to my house. Even if just for a day.
Is that too much to ask?
I already know the answer. But, for the sake of writing the rest of the post, let me have this other, tiny little dream of a day with no strangers in my home. At least let it live on for a little while.
See? Doesn’t that feel better?
Everything is good. Everything will be fine. I’m just the slowest to adapt to new surroundings compared to everyone else in my house.
I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Even Max, who is my own version of a superhero disguised as a shih-tzu, is adjusting seamlessly. His only complaint is that I am too busy for the amount of daily snuggles he requires. There has been some crying and whining, ok, so it’s mostly my own, but, still, he follows me valiantly. His 15-year-old self has navigated boxes and new-to-him corners with an unrelenting persistence to keep me in sight.
I wish everyone had a Max.
If they did, his kind of devoted love would fix us all.
I don’t know how long Max will call the Lone Star state his home, but I will be grateful for every day that he does.
I better hurry and get my tasks done.
Snuggles wait for no one.
Max lounging in the sun makes him sleepy. So does just about everything in life.
It’s hard to believe, but another year is drawing to a close. To date, this has been a year of tremendous change as Full Speed became a teenager (!) and T.Puzzle jumped more solidly into the double-digit realm. It’s not the age-number per say, 13 and 11 respectively, but the growth and maturation I’ve seen from them. It’s been a lot to process as I am seeing more clearly the young men they are becoming.
Full Speed is on the left, T.Puzzle on right
T.Puzzle continues to surprise us. He developed a love of distance running. How Mad Dog and I produced a distance runner is still a bit mystifying, but it is awesome that T.Puzzle is finding his own interests and pursuits. LEGO construction and playing video games remain firmly at the top of his list, but nice to know that he likes to get up and go sometimes, too.
Full Speed became a middle-schooler this year (it starts in seventh grade in our region) and he has adjusted beautifully. He shows leadership to his classmates willingly coaching them through Algebra assignments, and has a zest for presentations in class. A recent assignment in Civics had him debating school politics and he was in his zone. Leadership qualities and a passionate debater, hmmm…does that sound like anyone we might know? He also learned that not every dream is realized as he tried out for his school’s soccer team and didn’t make the cut. My favorite part about this life lesson was his genuine happiness for a long-time friend and classmate who did make the team this year. It’s not to say Full Speed’s given up on soccer forever, but oh my, isn’t there a wonderful world of possibilities out there waiting for him?
One of the very best parts of 2017 was the addition of our newest family member, Miss Lady. She is by no means a perfect dog, but she absolutely has been the perfect dog for our family. She keeps things lively here which I’m not so sure our senior resident (Little Guy) appreciates.
Little Guy’s shocked expression captures the essence of his disbelief at the amount of his new sister’s energy.
If you ever need to feel like you are the most amazing being alive, come on over and hang out at our house for a while, Miss Lady will not disappoint with her enthusiastic snuggles and love for you.
Miss Lady is as sweet as she looks.
Mad Dog continues to travel all over America and then some as the scope of the call centers he oversees grows and grows. As hard as it is to be away from him sometimes, I see how fulfilling his position is and know it is keeping him challenged and inspired. That’s truly all I want for all three of my boys, to be challenged and inspired.
As for me, I’ve made a little more space in my life for the things I enjoy. I continue to walk our dogs every day, have started a daily yoga routine and write as much as possible.
Life is short so whatever brings us joy is absolutely what we should pursue. It’s as simple as that.
Hope you had beauty-filled 2017 and that the lessons that lie ahead for all of us keep us growing in the direction of love.
When I began this blog, I didn’t really have any big goals. I was still grieving the profound loss of my mom, which does and doesn’t get easier, and coping with raising two rambunctious boys. I started writesforallmommies on a whim and it became a great coping mechanism for me. It allowed me to connect with others in a way that my very introverted personality sometimes doesn’t allow.
Through the years, I have had posts that click with a reader, friend or relative. That is the best feeling in the world. To know that something I wrote resonated and hopefully made them feel less alone. Let’s be honest, raising children (or life in general) can be very isolating. We feel judged as much as we judge. We question ourselves as much as we question others. We put on a brave front that we know what we are doing, when in fact, we know very little about how our actions will impact the future. It is frightening and exhilarating and mystifying and lovely all at once.
I recently received an email from a mom thanking me for my support during her daughter’s recent diagnosis of ectopia lentis. This is the same, genetic eye disorder both of my boys have. It is so rare, that it is difficult to find adequate resources on-line or anywhere at all for that matter. This mom is one of three that has contacted me through writesforallmommies.com concerning this matter.
To be able to help these moms cope with the overwhelming feelings that came with this bizarre sounding disorder has been one of the greatest rewards of writing this blog. I share this with you because if you are going through a particularly rough patch right now, know that it is preparing you to be of service to someone else. My boys were undiagnosed for a long, long time and not knowing anyone who had gone through the same experience was gut-wrenching. I know I didn’t completely prevent the feelings of despair for these women, but I eased the way and gave them hope. My boys are living proof that vision does not define them. They are awesome, adaptive and remarkable. No matter what happens with their vision down the road, they will remain awesome, adaptive and remarkable.
In the first game of our 3v3 season in U8 soccer, our roster of four (consisting of one eight-year old and three six-year olds in a division against seven and eight year olds), we held our own. While it ended in a tie, it was hard-fought and everyone gave their best effort. T.Puzzle even managed to score his first ever legitimate goal. In his selective remembering, it is his second goal. He is under the impression that last fall he scored. The truth is, and we haven’t had the heart to explain it, he had kicked it in the direction of the goal and while he had turned away to run his victory lap, a teammate actually nudge it in the last couple feet. So, we all celebrated as he got his ‘second’ goal. Naturally, before it even crossed into the net, he raced down the field with his arms victoriously extended in World Cup-like enthusiasm. His joy was contagious.
The second game our World Cup dreams were quickly dashed as an opponent, who it’s very possible drove himself to the field because he seemed adult-sized compared to our team, drilled goal after goal into our net. The younger kids kept on going while Full Speed broke down. When you are a passionate competitor like Full Speed, losing is like taking a bullet. In this case, it was like taking bullet after bullet. Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch….
In the end, I didn’t mind that we lost and badly. It turned into a great opportunity for the boys to learn about life. Sometimes things don’t go your way. It doesn’t matter what the outcome is as long as you handle yourself with dignity. Yes, Full Speed was crushed but he survived. Our focus in the future is to teach him that win or lose, life goes on. However, it’s a lot more fun when you are the one scoring all the goals…just ask T.Puzzle!
In addition to scoring his ‘second’ and ‘third’ goals, T.Puzzle lost his very first tooth. Quite a day for this World Cup future phenom!
Little Guy had a tough adjustment to our move. We have a special formula we (mainly me) follow each day to keep him comfortable and happy. In addition to his five sets of eye-drops of three medications, we shower him with affection and praise each night before bedtime. It does not guarantee he will sleep through the night, but it has been proven effective. There is nothing that warms my heart more than watching Mad Dog make over Little Guy. It is the sweetest.
Writes for all Mommies 