Thoughts After The New Year

While I do have some photos and stories to share from the holidays, something I'll do soon, I first have to talk about something else.... 

The break from school was something that my children obviously needed. Before the holiday break I had two little girls who were behaving like sullen teenagers (and okay, one of them is nearly there but God not YET) and a boy who was well behaved (because he had goals...) but was increasingly frustrated with his sisters, school and even some of his friends.  Getting the girls up and moving for school was a FIGHT every day. Getting any of them to do their chores was damn near impossible. There were a lot of threats and 'time-outs' spent alone in bedrooms - for all three of them. 

But then we had a really good holiday break. 

We spent almost all of the time together as a family. Chores were done together, games were played together, competitions were had (between the kids), and there were only a couple nights we weren't all together in one place or another.  Every couple days we saw some faction of our extended family or friends and spent time playing and chatting with them. 

And gradually we saw our girls again - sure they've got attitude and sass but they aren't sullen and angry. The kids are all happy to play together again (most of the time anyways) without one or another being discluded. Chores are completed with little to no complaint, or no more than the expected whine of "can't I do it later?" They want to go to school again and are practically eager to get up in the morning and get ready to go. We don't have to tie them down to get them to focus on homework for 10 minutes or any amount of time. They help each other with stuff again and while there are still arguments, (my ears are still sort of ringing from a ridiculous fight about toothbrushes this morning) they move on. We don't have to send them to their rooms or sit on them just to get them to stop fighting or calm down. 

Or maybe the break was something that we all needed. Time to reconnect as a family. Time to cuddle and joke and play. Time to talk, even if just while we were folding clothes, washing floors, decorating the tree and wrapping presents. Time to sleep. Time without expectations and with simple freedoms. 

Because the truth is we (Heli Dad and I) haven't changed anything in the way we act with them, treat them, or deal with them. We still tease them, talk to them, yell at them, play with them and sometimes just leave them be. But those two weeks of holiday gave them the break from everything else in their lives: teachers, friends and etc, and maybe our time together as a family simply reinforced their knowledge that sometimes in life shit gets crazy and things get hard but family is always going to be there. We can fight, be bitchy and mean to one another but no matter what, we're always family and we will always stand side by side. We can get frustrated with each other but will always know that we love each other and that that's what important. 

So all things considered, I think we may have experienced our best Christmas ever this year and it had nothing to do with the gifts we found under the tree, and everything to do with the people we have in our hearts. 

From my family to yours, I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.