Things have changed. My life has changed. My family has changed. I discovered that I could not make a decent living just with my painting business (actually I think I could IF I was disciplined and focused, but alas that does not seem to be in my nature these days). I was glad to have tried though. It was a wonderful time of seeing what I could do – and not do – and learning from that.

Since I was indeed a “starving artist”, I realized I needed to put the artist part on the back burner and address the starving part. So I got a job. I am now a Para Pro in the Special Education department at the local school. It is a 5 minute walk from my house (bonus!). My son Jake is a Special Needs child in the 8th grade and so I do see him quite a bit – which he is not too thrilled with (one day he didn’t want me even talking to him – cuz I might embarrass him by saying, “Hi” in the hallway).

Being a Grandma has been a wonderful change in my life. Except that I don’t get to see baby Tyler as  much as I would like to. He continues to be the cutest baby in the world. Caitlin shares parenting with Tyler’s father. Tyler is going to be with Daddy for Thanksgiving – which means that they won’t be here! So now the question becomes – do we go to Caitlin’s for Thanksgiving – she doesn’t even have a table in her apartment!

And my son Asa is still in North Dakota but has a girlfriend in Florida – so there is talk about if he will be here for Thanksgiving – or Christmas – or both – or neither. What is happening to my family??!! These darn kids are messing with my traditions just because they want to have their own lives! The nerve! What am I to do?

At least I still have Jake at home – except that he is out and about so much that I rarely see him – and when I do he is a moody teenager and doesn’t want me talking to him.

My mind is trying to wrap itself around these new changes. I have to start thinking about the holidays in a different way – and it is hard. Luckily I do have time to process it all. But what about the years and years of holiday traditions? I suppose it would be best just to be truly thankful when we do get together, whether it is just two of us or the whole bunch. That would be the best tradition to have.

22 Oct This entry was published on October 22, 2014 at 1:46 am. It’s filed under Uncategorized and tagged ADHD, change, christmas, daughter, family, grandma, grandson, holidays, kids, school, seasons, son, special ed, teenager, thanksgiving, tradition. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.