Summer’s Over And I Never Got Any Rest.

Last night, I was cooking dinner and glancing out the window at Patrick who was playing basketball with some neighbor kids.  Then I thought to myself, “I’m cooking dinner and glancing out the window at Patrick who is playing basketball with some neighbor kids?!?!”  I was keenly aware that I have a teenage son.

I have four kids.  I love them all.  And, I am exhausted. 

It’s been an interesting summer.  I’ve wanted to write a blog so badly.  I’ve wanted to get all these thoughts out of my head.  I’ve composed numerous first paragraphs in my head.   I’ve opened up the laptop and got the page loaded up.  And, then, guess what?  (If you were one of my kids, and, admittedly, me, you would now say “chicken butt!”)  But, that’s not it.  The answer is that I would almost immediately fall asleep.  And, this frustrates me to no end.  I have not enjoyed giving up an hour of my Emily time because, apparently, you can’t send 13 year olds to bed at 8:30-9:00pm….  It would seem that 10:00 is more reasonable.  And, much like 10, 6, and 4 year olds, when they go to bed at 10:00, they don’t actually get settled until 10:15-10:30.  I didn’t always manage to stay awake until he went to bed.  Darn comfy recliner!  And, then, if Brian wasn’t already home, he would be home by 11:00.  Aargh.

Ok, now, here’s the part where I acknowledge how ridiculous that sounds. 🙂  While, every parent feels my pain.  Every parent also knows that’s all part of the job.  And, here’s the best part.  We added a teenager to our house and this is my biggest complaint.   Translation:  He’s pretty awesome. 

Here’s the part where I try to say only the really important things or no one will make it through this blog.  Well, except for Brian, but he’s obligated to read it. 😉

We took a trip to Brian’s parents’ farm and it went great.  We picked blackberries, fed cows, ate my mother-in-law’s yummy cake, and ate at Long John Silvers as many times as we could get away with (because Patrick now loves it, too!). 

Picking blackberries with PaPa.

Patrick’s blackberries!

MaMa made blackberry cobbler!

I wanted to take it with me!

Long John Silver’s!

It wasn’t all cake and cows, of course.  William and Patrick bickered.  This was mostly due to William freaking out a bit about the change.  He has never liked change.  Beginnings of school years, end of school years, and even birthdays freak him out.  You can imagine how suddenly having a full-time big brother messed with his mind.  Several talks later, he seems to be doing ok. (Fingers crossed1)

And, that full-time big brother decided that he had enough of being a big brother on the Fourth of July.  So, he decided to stop speaking to all of us.  Seeing as I had everyone in patriotic colors and a camera ready, you can imagine how much I didn’t like this.  Eventually, he acknowledged that they were getting on his nerves.  I assured him that was totally normal, but that he couldn’t just shut down; he needed to tell us what was bothering him or tell us that he needed a few minutes.  (Last week, when he did tell me what was bothering him about me at the particular moment, I kind of missed the Patrick shut-down, haha.)  Anyway, once he talked to me about it, he perked up and I did get my 4th of July picture. 🙂

So, all in all, some bickering between brothers and one teenager freeze out.  Not bad. 🙂

So, we came home.  We got settled in.  Brian and I went back to work (boo).  And, we started to really figure out what it’s like to be a family of 6.

Through the summer, we learned how to function as a big family in a 3 bedroom house.  I learned that I only thought I knew how much a teenager eats.  We found out that facebook isn’t so cool when a biological mother uses it to friend request your son.  😦   We all figured out how to deal with each other in the best way possible, most of the time.  And, I got to enjoy the moments of signing him up for school, hugging him goodnight every night, hearing him call me “mom” for the first time, and hearing him say that he loves me.  And, it’s also pretty cool when he tells me that I’m awesome, especially since I know that he won’t always feel that way, haha.  And, through it all, I tried to master giving the other three kids all the attention that they need and want, too.  Tricky.

So, here comes the part where I realize that I can’t fit it all in one blog.  There’s just too much to say!  So, I’ll have to stop here and write a part 2 (and maybe a 3).

I guess I better get to bed, my teenager has to be at school by 7:40.  7:40???  I’m probably not going to enjoy that moment so much. 😉