Today has been a strange day subconsciously. The boys have been here all week and it has been good. But it is hard for them. They don't live here most of the time and coming to our house after long absences is like visiting a home instead of being home. It takes a few days for them to feel at home.
I wrote yesterday about how hard it is for my husband to process all the complex emotions of coming and going. I can't imagine how stressful it is for the boys. They live in one house most of the year and have to come into a new home with a parent and step-parent they rarely see. It must be hard for them to deal with the emotions of switching houses and families plus dealing with Daddy coming and going from war.
Today I don't think they woke up truly here. Something I've noticed after being a step-parent twice is that the last day of any visit the kids act up, push buttons and get on nerves. Maybe because it is easier to leave that way? Maybe because their emotions are kind of on edge too. They feel it, the looming good-bye, the knowledge that Daddy is gone for months again.
I know for me today was hard. I felt so much pressure to make today fantastic for the guys. We had so much to get done today, but I wanted tonight to be a special family fun time, but life just took over. Chad had chores he was working on and the baby takes so much of my focus. Between laundry and dinner, it was just not the perfect family day I had hoped for. Maybe the pressure of it being the last night the boys will see their father made it seem less than perfect.
We grilled hamburgers. Trenton helped make dinner while Nathan watched the baby and I folded clothes. Then we made sugar cookies and started playing our new Kinect game we bought this afternoon. After playing for awhile, we had pecan caramel brownie sundaes with Oreo cookie ice cream, whipped cream, drizzled in caramel and chocolate.
Now I think the sugar high has kicked in and we're still up at 11:30 playing Kinect sports. Nathan is starting to act a little manic and Trenton vacillates between being an active participant and napping. I know we will have to send them to bed soon, but no one wants to night to end. Tomorrow's good-bye comes too soon for all of us.
I wrote yesterday about how hard it is for my husband to process all the complex emotions of coming and going. I can't imagine how stressful it is for the boys. They live in one house most of the year and have to come into a new home with a parent and step-parent they rarely see. It must be hard for them to deal with the emotions of switching houses and families plus dealing with Daddy coming and going from war.
Today I don't think they woke up truly here. Something I've noticed after being a step-parent twice is that the last day of any visit the kids act up, push buttons and get on nerves. Maybe because it is easier to leave that way? Maybe because their emotions are kind of on edge too. They feel it, the looming good-bye, the knowledge that Daddy is gone for months again.
I know for me today was hard. I felt so much pressure to make today fantastic for the guys. We had so much to get done today, but I wanted tonight to be a special family fun time, but life just took over. Chad had chores he was working on and the baby takes so much of my focus. Between laundry and dinner, it was just not the perfect family day I had hoped for. Maybe the pressure of it being the last night the boys will see their father made it seem less than perfect.
We grilled hamburgers. Trenton helped make dinner while Nathan watched the baby and I folded clothes. Then we made sugar cookies and started playing our new Kinect game we bought this afternoon. After playing for awhile, we had pecan caramel brownie sundaes with Oreo cookie ice cream, whipped cream, drizzled in caramel and chocolate.
Now I think the sugar high has kicked in and we're still up at 11:30 playing Kinect sports. Nathan is starting to act a little manic and Trenton vacillates between being an active participant and napping. I know we will have to send them to bed soon, but no one wants to night to end. Tomorrow's good-bye comes too soon for all of us.
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