Be Enough Me: Lost

Ummm…it’s been a summer. I’m trying to say that with a smile, because there were lots of smile filled moments, and when I think back over the summer as a whole, I see more happy than turmoil. (Which is good, no? Especially when blending a family together)

Turmoil has been heavy though. This is one of those cases where when it’s good, it’s good, but when it’s bad? It’s very, very, very bad. I lost myself over the summer. I went into mom mode and stayed in mom mode. I tried adding GC into my days, but by the time he would get home from work, I’m so exhausted…

Losing myself is not fun. Not at all. I had little time to write. My desktop grew a few layers of dust and gained a few cobwebs as it sat unused most of the summer. Anytime I sat down in front of it, chaos would ensue. I just couldn’t leave my kids “unattended” even long enough to go pee. At 16, 14, and 12 (not counting Scooby, you know, because the baby is supposed to be a PITA) that shouldn’t be. But it did, and it does, and…

Sigh.

All those ugly doubts and questions worked themselves to the forefront of my mind. Am I good enough? Am I being enough mom, enough wife, enough me? As for the mom part, I had enough of a support system to know that yes, I was enough mom (no, strike that. I AM enough mom.) The jury is still out on whether I was enough wife, but I can absolutely, positively tell you that I was NOT enough me. Nowhere close.

You know that phrase: If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy? I found it running through my head whenever I was cranky, which was a lot, or irritable, which was weekly, or mad, which was hourly. Man, what an undertaking! The biggest problem wasn’t the disrespect of the older kids, or the constant bickering, or the constant challenges to everything I say (“Isn’t the sky a lovely shade of blue today?” “That’s not blue. That’s turquoise.”). It’s not even that GC spent more time away from home than in it. And yes, these are all major issues, but, like the phrase says:

If momma ain’t happy…

How can momma be happy when she’s lost sight of herself? When she’s shoved her identity behind a label—wife, mom, whatever—so far that it felt like an alien had taken over her body? Who was that woman this summer?

When I write…when I’m doing my thing, I am happy. The whole world can fall to pieces around me, and as long as I’m being me, doing me things despite them all, it’s a bit easier to deal with everything and everyone when you have your own peace inside.

I don’t want to ever do that again. I’ve found the road again and I’m following it closely.

Specter

Jellybean and Specter

Diving headfirst into the pool of teenage boys didn’t work quite as well as I expected. You could say I belly flopped.

I still have the red belly to prove it.

My experience with boys involves small boys, not big ones. The four years I went without seeing these boys didn’t help.

So amid the stinky socks, rough play, and fist flying fights, there’s a gem in the rough. The one boy who ceased to be a child long before he should have is proving to be my greatest ally.

He has his moments of sheer defiance, of course, and there are times when the depth of his rage scares me. Those moments are becoming fewer and far between these days as I see him doing more to help our family become one.

He still takes his brother’s side a bit more often than I like, but he’s getting better. I think he has begun to realize that it’s not all on him, even when he tries to take the blame for something another child did, we don’t let him.

He can get his brother to calm down in a way that I can’t (and vice versa). I see him interacting with Jellybean, even inviting her to walk around with them at the mall or including her in things she felt left out of before.

When the big storm hit on Friday, unexpected and sudden, with winds that bowed even our tallest trees to the ground, a lightning show, and thunder so powerful it shook our house, he was right there, the whole time, doing everything in his power to help keep the two younger children (who were terrified) calm. When the lights flickered and the power went out, though it was brief, he was right there, running to grab the emergency candles, even with Scooby clinging to his neck for dear life.

He is great with all the kids when he wants to be, dependable and helpful more often than not.

Now if he could just tame that mouth and stop the bullish behavior when he’s mad…