My New Norm

9 February 2012

To say I’ve had a little trouble adjusting is probably an understatement.  I’ve definitely made my complaints known to some and pouted in my own way.  I know my attitude hasn’t been the best, but it doesn’t mean it’s easy to flip it.

While reading Loving the Little Years, there was a chapter that has really stuck in my mind.  Here’s a few clips….

One of the most difficult things my children can do is grow.  And they just keep doing it, don’t they?  It seems like we just find a routine and things are fairly manageable.   I am feeling pretty good about the laundry, about the discipline, and about the whole situation.   Then it seems like we wake up one morning and nothing works anymore.

…It is like all my children have a growth spurt at the same time and develop new needs.  This is only a problem when Mom doesn’t have a growth spurt herself.  Even more of a problem when Mom refuses to have one, and demands that everyone else get back into clothes that are too tight. 

…You know those pain scales at the hospital, where they rate your pain from one to ten?  Well, pretend that you are screaming, “Thirteen, thirteen! Fifteen!”  What that should tell you is that it is time to restart the whole thing, stop screaming, and just deal with the fact that this in now the new “one”.  Start over, and accept the new “normal”.

While in this chapter she was speaking specifically to the changes that your kids go through (ie no longer needing a nap) which causes a change/response in your entire family structure, I have been faced with MANY changes that require a better response that what what I have given so far.

I’m taking this advice and in my mind I’m turning around everything that is new and inconvenient and doing my best to make it the new norm.

My new norm is….

·         An Average of 10 degrees lately.  *Not including windchill.
·         Walking Ryan to school at 7:30 in the morning, in the 10 degree weather, sometimes while it’s snowing, with Colin and Blaine in tow.  (And why yes…coincidentally, it is uphill. J )
·         Making multiple trips to the Commissary in one week opposed to my normal twice a month.
·         Hardwood floors; which in turn means never-ending immense amounts of visible dirt /salt/snow/muddy water tracked in from outside. (Still trying to figure out how to conquer this one!)
·         Waking Blaine and Colin up prematurely from their afternoon naps so we can walk back to school to pick Ryan up.
·         The strong possibility that Tim will only make it home in time for dinner *maybe* twice a week.  Lately we are blessed if he makes it home before the boys are already in bed.
·         Other joys of apartment living. (See previous post here.)
·         Burning various things as we are learning the temperament of our “new” oven. (haha..I just realized I used temperament when describing the oven.  Real corny.)

It hasn’t done me any good to complain about much of these things that I can’t change.  I’m praying I can keep the refreshed outlook and it will help the adjustment go a bit smoother.