In honour of Thanksgiving, here is a post of some of the things that I am most grateful for.
In no particular order:
I am grateful for my mother. She made a lot of unpopular choices for her time, for the betterment of her children. She was a homebirthing, breastfeeding, babywearing, no-vaxing, homeschooling mom 27 years ago when it was not so well known as it is today. She faced stiff opposition, some of it from dearly loved family, and still did what she knew to be best for us. I realized the other day that, had we been raising our children at the same time, we probably would have been good friends. That’s awesome. I’m proud to say that we now ARE good friends. I love you, Mom.
I am grateful for my dad. He, along with my mom, has stood by me even as I made some terrible decisions with my life. They have never said, “I told you so,” even though they have had plenty of occasions to do so. I’ve inherited many of my traits from him. My strong desire to always be on time (yes, I’m late a lot. I HATE being late and will do everything in my power to not be. Some things are beyond my control though, mostly my husband and kids J ). My attention to detail (a more positive way of saying that I’m obsessive. Thanks for that term, Dad!) My desire to get to know God better every day. I love you, Dad.
My oldest son. He has taught me more about myself than anyone else in my life. He’s taught me about anger and forgiveness, determination and perseverance, what really is important and how to let go of what isn’t. After I had my first miscarriage, he taught me that life goes on. As much as I wanted to lie in bed for weeks, or forever, I HAD to get up to care for him. I love him so much and he is especially dear to my heart.
My middle son. I have a special place in my heart for him as I am also the middle child. He also has taught me a lot, mostly how to multi-task, creative ways of being fair to each child (as much as possible), and just how different one child can be from the next. He taught me that I really could bond with him, even through the hell of colic and ppd. He is such a ham, and has us alternating constantly between pulling out our hair and splitting a gut laughing at his antics.
My third-born. He’s not showing us a whole lot of his personality yet, but I love him so. He is sweet and gentle and just perfect. He has REALLY stretched my parenting skills as I learned how to wrap my brain around caring for three children. He’s made it far easier than it might have been though. Had he been colicky like his next older brother, I don’t know how we would have survived. Once we figured out the reflux, he’s been a dream. He smiles and coos and his face lights up when he wakes up next to me in the morning and sees my smiling face next to his. He likes to jump up and down on our laps and will hold himself upright if someone balances for him. He babbles and laughs. He has the cutest little pouty face.
My father-in-law and stepmom-in-law. They have graciously opened their home to us these past 5 months. Even though we thought we’d be here a couple weeks at the most, they have never made us feel unwelcome. They have been tremendously helpful to me with the kids and I don’t know how I could have done it without them. It takes a special kind of person to invite FIVE extra people into their home and rarely ever complain about the many inconveniences. I will forever be indebted to them and am eternally grateful to them for helping us.
My midwife. As I have said, I had to move away from home 30 weeks into my pregnancy. I had to give up everything, including my midwives. This was devastating. I am SO grateful that I at least did not have to give up my homebirth. I am not comfortable with birthing unassisted, and no other midwives responded to me, so a hospital birth would have been the only other option. If you’ve read #3’s birth story, then you know what I would have missed out on. She took me on, despite already having twice as many clients as she usually takes on for the month, despite me being 30 weeks along already, and despite my inability to pay in a timely manner. She has repeatedly gone above and beyond for me. I could never repay her (although I WILL pay the rest of the fee, I promise!) Thank you so, so much.
The wee monkey is calling for me so I must stop here. Thank you to all my friends and family for standing by me, for sending gifts to the baby and I as we are without so much with all of our stuff in storage, for sending me messages on Facebook, for letting me vent to you, for praying for me. I love you all.
