All Quiet on the Home Front

I wish this feeling could last forever.  Everyone is so relaxed.  Bill is so much more relaxed.  I enjoy him more.  I feel like we are becoming a couple again.  We haven't restarted date nights yet, but we are laughing more, enjoying the beauty of summer in our backyard, without interruption by the whirlwind of drama that is our second daughter.  If our last conversation with her on Saturday night hadn't been so positive, I am sure I would be feeling guiltier for enjoying our family life right now.  She sounded again quite positive and so normal. Such a change in her voice, how she intonates and the speed at which she talks, not driven, but relaxed. Her roommate situation seems ok right now.  The first day the pool opened she couldn't go because a big thunderstorm rolled in.  Bummer.  Hopefully that won't last the whole weekend.

I am still trying to nail down the child care for our trip to see her next weekend.  Some of it is settled, some not. I am nervous because we haven't been that far away from our kids in about 10 years.  Like other parents of bipolar or special needs kids, date nights and time away is very hard to come by, for lack of a sitter who can handle the difficult child.  Plus it is hard to relax when you know that things at home are probably rough going.  You keep waiting for that phone call, which inevitably comes.  I think our last night away was a year ago, and it was kind of disastrous due to a number of factors.  Not a weekend to remember.  We have a gift card to a really nice restaurant we need to use.  And now that the laundry and the ironing are all caught up with my new help, and my house is consistently clean and picked up with the maid service, I feel that I can focus on the important stuff, like relationships and organization, and family fun.  Oh, and getting our house on the market.  I don't think I will give up the maid or laundry help after we have moved.  I just feel so much less stressed out and heaven knows that a less stressed out mom makes for a happier family.  When mom is happy, everyone is happy, that's my motto.  

Enjoy Memorial Day!  I have a daddy to remember who is buried at Arlington Cemetery, and this year I think I will actually get to visit his grave with one of my daughters, none of whom have even been.  Sometimes I think of all that has transpired since he passed away when I was in college, and I think he just could never have imagined fifteen grandchildren, four with either aspergers, autism, or bipolar disorder, and a bunch with severe ADHD, so many trials, and yet so much blessing.  I wouldn't trade my family for anything.  God has brought beauty from ashes.