8 years ago, all seven children lived at home. The oldest went off to college. A couple years late, the next oldest moved out on his own as well. Last fall when one of the girls turned 18, she promptly moved out. So, there was four kids living at home. That 18 year old came back with a significant other and grand puppy. That brought it up to six. Recently the 17 year old moved out. Come Sept., the oldest one will be back for a month. And of course, the new grand baby is due to "move in" in December. I can barely keep track. As long as I have my nice quite room to retreat to when I get over stimulated, then I really enjoy the house being full.
My husband and I have been having a blast buying things for the grand baby on the way. We have gone way over board, but are enjoying every minute of it. I think we both were having a little baby fever, and this came at just the right time. We are bargain gurus. We have managed to buy a nursery full of absolutely beautiful things from thrift stores and Craigslist. Every thing is yellow and green right now. We are begging our daughter to not find out the sex of the baby. We would love for it to be a surprise for everyone. Her Ultrasound is tomorrow. She is thinking about it. The nursery is jungle themed and green, but we have bought a lot with yellow ducks and frogs. Frogs have been our daughter's favorite animal for forever. Baby Gap has the most adorable outfits with frogs.
I had enough of our 17 year old.She has been disrespecting our house by not following any of the rules. I have tried to be patient, but I could no longer tolerate the attitude that she could come and go as she pleases, and doesn't need to answer to anyone. She has moved in with family of her boyfriend. Now she is telling everyone that her life is so difficult because her mom doesn't love her. My obvious answer was that if I didn't love her, I wouldn't care if she was running the streets. I love her enough to parent her appropriately, unlike what I assume the people are doing for her where ever she crashes at. She will be 18 soon. I think this is one of those kids that is just going to have to learn some hard lessons all by herself. I adore this beautiful, smart, caring child, but she will have to learn that mom does not play. Struggle never hurts anybody. It helped me grown stronger. She doesn't have to struggle, she chooses to. Her room is empty. She has the choice to be here or not. But if she is here, it will be under our rules.
Both my husband and I have noticed how much more relaxed our 19 year old son, who has Asperger's Syndrome, is. He seems less depressed and stressed than when he was in high school. I think the whole thing really took a toll on him. He often goes out walking around now to get out of the house. He put on his head set, plays some kind of music, and sing way off key as he bounces down the street. He NEVER use to listen to music. I need to start getting a plan together for him. I'd like for him to start working, at least part time. I know he would LOVE the money to buy computer gadgets.
Two of our girls are now working through this summer. That's nice. They have lives of their own and more control. They seem happy too. The 18 year old is working in fast food and that is pissing off her father. He wants her to start college this fall. Financial aid has been an issue, so I think she is waiting for another semester. The 16 year old is the ONLY kid starting school this fall! I am so excited. She loves school and I know she is looking forward to going back.
I have been struggling (still) with the pain I have in my neck and shoulders since before my spinal fusion. I am getting Physical Therapy twice a week now, and it has been great. One of the PTs that works for me has a Rehab Clinic. He is doing it for free for me. My insurance had sent me to PT, but the co-pay wasn't worth the 15 mins. they wanted to do every couple of weeks. I tried acupuncture and was very disappointed, plus $90 broker. I do get relief for hours after the PT now, but the pain always comes back.
I have put back on they weight I lost last year. A lot of my joint aches and pains have returned as well. I am pretty sure it is my thyroid again. I have not been taking my medicine correctly. Bad nurse. I am going to focus on getting that back on track. I am kind of shocked how sensitive my thyroid status has been since I was diagnosed.I never realized how much of an issue I have.
I mostly feel happy and blessed nowadays. I am trying to find ways to decrease as much stress as possible. With each year that I get older, I realize more and more that the stress just has never been worth it. But I have found that even when I change my attitude and approach, others around me stay the same and easily drag me back into the stress cycle. This is really something I need to work on and have success at.I need to deflect other people's high strung, addiction to chaos.
"Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.”
-Buddha
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