Roll With It

Last night was a gorgeous night in Connecticut. The weather is warming up, spring is here and we decided to celebrate the good weather by sleeping in the back yard fort last night. Usually it takes me awhile to fall asleep in that fort because it is difficult to get comfortable in a 5 by 8 space where my kids and I are packed in like sardines. There is no space to even roll over on your side, that's how tight the space is, with our sleeping bags overlapping each other. I was so tired however, I fell right to sleep. Okay, this time thankfully there were no rain storms to contend with but something equally uncontrollable and out of our hands woke all of us up. At around midnight, I was literally jolted awake by a sound I know all too well....projectile vomiting. Yep, my daughter was vomiting absolutely everywhere! Since the space is so small, there was no way to even control the fact that we all ended up in the line of fire. What a lovely thing to wake up to. The only thing I can compare this to is the time we were driving home from the airport and one of the kids started throwing up all over the car while we were on the thruway. It's a very helpless feeling! Luckily, I have a lot of experience with thinking on my toes (even when I'm half asleep) and I quickly got her into the house (and shower), while guiding everyone into their beds and back to sleep, once we were all cleaned up. I tackled cleaning the cabin this morning. Okay sometimes, even when you think that things are going one way, things just end up out of our control. All we can do is damage control! It seems fitting and symbolic that today is my 14th wedding anniversary. After fourteen years of marriage there have been many days, when I just had to roll with it, especially having three children 10 and under. I remember vividly when my youngest was a new born, my daughter was 2 and my oldest was five. It was just pure chaos most days. I can laugh about it now, but wow there were some tough times back then. Having children can put a lot of pressure on even the strongest relationship. The fact that we also had two careers and no family in the area, made it that much harder. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say, but looking back, we probably should have moved closer to family years ago. I usually pride myself on doing everything myself, but I was wrong. We absolutely needed more support. As they say, it takes a village to raise a family. I overlooked the importance of that sentiment. I believe that is probably a huge problem in society today. Families are split apart due to the job market and relocations and people end up so isolated and detached. I have learned a lot about myself over the past 14 years of marriage. Relationships take work, insight and a continued effort. Whenever the effort stops, or anyone feels taken for granted, things start to slip away. The longer resentments build up, the more likely a couple can slip into neverland, never to return. We have many changes on the horizon. Our home is on the market and we are moving to California this summer. The future is unclear, but I know now that every relationship is ripe with countless lessons. I am trying to roll with every opportunity for patience, growth, laughter and tears. Life is a journey and I am grateful each and every day for the gift of this life.