Thank God for Resiliency

If my kids are anything, they are resilient. And while I'd like to take credit for that trait, I'm going to give credit where credit is due. This is 100% by the grace of God.

Now I'm not saying that we breeze through transitions like champs. No. Our day to day movement from one activity to the next often resembles more of a cross between alligator wrestling and a bad rerun of Cops.

But life has been so difficult for them these past couple of years.  I've done my best to hang onto the one foundational aspect of our lives - our home - and it hasn't been easy.  But it's been the one thing that has remained the same, while every other aspect of our lives swirls around us in constant flux, like standing in the eye of a hurricane.

A few months ago, my job moved out to Springfield.  It meant my commute suddenly became an hour longer each way, every day.  When you're a single parent, this has an obvious impact on your kids, and I wanted desperately for it not to.  My supervisors were incredibly flexible and allowed me to work a shortened work week so that I could still manage to pick the kids up on time at the end of the day. 

The catch was that I had to make up the additional hours from home later that evening or on weekends.  Initially, I thought this was a fantastic idea.  Looking back now, I don't know how I even THOUGHT I'd be able to manage that.  And needless to say, I couldn't.  When I got home, I wanted to put all my time into my kids, and then I needed some time for myself, and then there was that elusive thing called . . . sleep.

So a few weeks ago, I finally threw in the towel and decided I just needed to get the kids enrolled in Before Care and put in my full 8-9 hours each day at work so that I was 100% Mommy when I got home.  It was one of the best decisions I've made in a while.  Having my nights back means we get extra time after dinner to play and clean up the kitchen, snack bags are packed and ready for the next day, we get to read books and snuggle in bed each night without rushing, and I'm actually getting 7-8 hours of sleep!

In the beginning though, I worried about how this new transition was going to affect the kids.  We'd have to get up at 5:30am, be out the door by 6:30am, they'd eat breakfast at school instead of at home . . . .

The very first Monday was a little tiny bit rough.  But I have to tell you, Tuesday morning, the kids literally sprang out of bed, got dressed and in the car with enthusiasm, and excitedly ran into the school looking for their new friends, sitting eagerly down at the table to share their breakfasts. 

I remember a week later, standing outside the Before Care room looking in at my kids who were laughing and playing; happy and healthy.  We had successfully transitioned to a new routine and everyone was flourishing.  I stood there, looking in with a bit of bittersweet pride.  These were my kids; rolling with life, taking what was given to them and making it something beautiful and fun. 

I wouldn't be a Mom if I didn't want to continue to shelter them from all the awfulness around them now and the awfulness that is surely still to come . . . . But, I'm confident now, they are going to be just fine.