Thankfulness

Tonight, as I played ring around the rosy with Thea and Hannah (Thea clutching Hanna's ear with glee) I was washed with gratitude. It has been such an unpredictable couple months, but today I took a big step forward toward stability for these little people entrusted to me, and it felt amazing. Now, as the fire crackles and kbbi keeps me company, calm settles around me. I am very thankful for that.

Thea has been talking up a storm lately, and I can see how happy she is when I actually get what she is saying. Hopefully, that will mean that once she can communicate more consistently, some of this frustration will dissipate. My goodness but the little girl has an opinion at every turn. It really has only been the last month that I've started laying down the law - correcting her when she hollers her requests and expecting a please instead and refusing to give in to her floppy-floor moves. But at this rate, it's going to be a long, long year. So I'm holding out hope that the speech thing will help.

Liam also is doing well, though the split time has been harder on him. Lots of cuddles are doled out, but more recently, I've adopted the philosophy of being less indulgent with him. I think what kids really want is to know that while some things have changed, others have not. The ground still stays beneath your feet, and you still have to clean up your room at the end of the day. The order of life. We often have a tough time on what I call transition day, especially around dinnertime, but this week, I plopped a laundry basket in his room and asked him to fold it all and (this is the clincher) put it away when he was done. And he did it. Really well. And then pranced around saying how he could do lots of challenging tasks. We discussed meals he could help me make in the future.

As for me, I've been able to do some things the past few weeks that have really recharged my perspective - most important of which is getting out of town. Last weekend I made it to Anchorage for a couple days and am still smiling about the experience. I stayed with Jerzy, with whom I moved to Alaska 17 years ago, and his wife Paula, who is a wonderful person and a joy to spend time with. Paula spent an hour one morning working on some specific stretches for my hips, which are probably the root of all my knee issues. Amazing stuff. I also ate lovely Thai food, thoroughly enjoyed the company of new and old friends, danced, went for an exhilarating run and oogled at the amazing inspiration behind a Nutella porter. Yum. And I didn't see a single Homerite the whole time. I think I'll go back soon.