Back to Life Back to Reality

Living life as two working parents with one crazy schedule is really challenging some days. But the last few weeks have been wonderful. Tommy got three weeks off from work over the holidays. His teacher schedule really is a blessing some times during the year. However, reality was going set in at some point and this week was it, except... for snow days and work trips!


I was really not looking forward to being a single nighttime mom again. Doing dinner, playtime, snack, bath and bedtime by yourself with two little ones can be quite a challenge sometimes. But by the grace of old man winter my luck was extended a week. School was cancelled on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday Tommy was let out early because of other commitments later in the work week. Now tonight I am sitting in the airport at 5pm waiting to fly to Ohio. Kids are at home with the babysitter and Tommy will have to be the single parent for the next two nights.


Times like these really make me count my blessings. I love being married to Tommy. Not just because it is easier to do bath time with four adult hands rather than two but because it is better to have a partner in life. Someone to share the joy and the struggles.

...continued writing three days later...

I didn't expect this to turn into an adoption post but lately our path to our third gem has seemed to be a little more winding that I want. Nothing has changed, our hearts are still waiting but finding all our necessary papers and scheduling appointments is just daunting. We know the waiting is necessary, we know the paperwork and verification of who we are is important but like my desire to have a partner in life our child has a desire for a forever family.

But really, the thing that bothers me most is knowing that there are children in the world who don't have a mom and dad who can play at bath time or tuck them in under a homemade quilt every night. I am currently reading There is No Me Without You by Melissa Fay Greene. There is one particular story of two orphaned girls who live on there own before being brought to the orphanage. These girls were young, not even 10 years old and they lived in their home by themselves after their parents died. Their kind neighbor would leave them a plate of food each night but the girls would go to bed and wake up in the morning to walk to school all on their own. They knew the love of their parents but they had to continue life without them.

This book has been hard for me to put down but I also want to just throw it across the room sometimes. Not because it is poorly written but because it makes me frustrated at the utter chaos in which our world seems to operate. One effort to help our world population (vaccines) causes unintended consequences (infections from unsterilized needles) for those who should benefit. In Fr. Glenn's sermon this weekend (Steven actually did a good job entertaining himself so I could listen) he talked about finger pointing. When you point your finger at someone or thing, remember that three are pointing back at you. There is no target of finger pointing for the orphan crisis in Africa. There are simply too many moving parts to say how it happened or what the solution should be.

I just know that those three fingers pointing back at me represent my three gems. Making sure that the two with me now realize how important it is that we support and love one another the world over, especially our gem waiting for us in Africa.