Yin and Yang

Today I'm thankful for the ebb and flow of the individual difficulties and challenges within the family.

We all have our challenges, no doubt.  On any particular day, one person will have more challenges, or difficult behaviors, than another.  I was pondering this phenomenon earlier in the week as I noticed the beginnings of some moodiness with my Tween.  He's never been moody, so these first signs of some bad attitude were startling to say the least.  In fact, my first instinct was something along the lines of, "Oh NO we're NOT going to be moody!  You are my even keel, NON-moody one!  You will STAY that way!  Right now!" (Stomping and waving my finger in the air for effect).  But as I thought about it a bit more, and analyzed it from a distance (after the children were in bed), I realized that it made sense in the grand scheme of the family.  Owen is almost six, and while he still has his challenges, they are no longer overwhelming every single moment of every single day like they may have been a few years ago.  There is now some breathing room.  It makes sense that someone else will rise to fill the void.  I only wish that I'd thought of it first…though maybe menopause moodiness will trump Tween moodiness before long.  Watch your back, Liam!

I like to think of it as the Great Evening Out.  I guess that sounds too much like a date night though.  Maybe the Great Cosmic Balancing Act.  If everyone were to be at maximum difficulty at the same time, the family might explode.  As long as we can keep it rotating, we might manage to keep moving forward.

Wait a minute, I'm remembering some months after Owen first came home from Russia that were excruciatingly hard because Owen and Natalie were both at maximum difficult…So I guess that brings me to Thankfulness Part Two:  I'm also thankful for an exceedingly bad memory.  Many unpleasant things can be forgotten with poor long-term memory.  Very thankful for that - it should never be underestimated.