Thursday, November 28, 2013

The Reluctant Thanksgiving

I wasn't reluctant to give thanks, I promise. I try to do that every day, especially on those days when I really have to think past the horrible to recognize the good.

However, the crazier my life gets on a day-to-day basis, the more I've come to dread holidays, or any day that takes us wildly off any semblance of schedule. The hard just gets harder when we change things up.

This year, on top of having to drag three babies, some amount of food and drink, and various required baby items along with us on our day trip to my parents', I had other worries to attend to. There were Mia's Eight Month pictures, which were forgotten in the Thanksgiving prep chaos of yesterday. There were the thank-you cards that I've been desperate to find a time to work on, and hoped to try to squeeze in during our visit, while extra hands were available for child care. There was the camera to pack, for the "month" pictures I hoped to take. There were all-new potty concerns, and a nearly-forgotten special potty chair that we had to turn around and retrieve five minutes into our drive.

Tom had to talk me out of a near-meltdown before I could face the overwhelmingness of it all and get moving on All The Things That Needed Doing.

Suffice it to say, though we got a later start than either of us really wanted, we made it and are all the better for having done so. The food was excellent, the family- well, family- but it's always wonderful to have an occasion to bring everyone together. Today was no exception.

As we went around the table declaring what we were thankful for, I had trouble deciding what to highlight. I have many blessings in my life for which I am profoundly grateful. Ultimately, Mia's eight-month milestone got me thinking about the unique circumstances of her birth, and how incredibly lucky we were that despite being wholly unprepared and without medical support, she came through healthy, strong, and without complication. I also, as I try to do often, had to give props to Tom, who helps me get through just about everything.

Left unsaid, but always on my mind, were these three darlings, without whom I cannot imagine my life at all.




I did attempt those pictures, but I'm still deciding if I want to do them over, since I elected not to post them all tonight, anyway (that's one of them, above). Some were decent, but most were overexposed and/or lacking in sharpness, and for the most part Mia refused to smile for me. Ah, well. I guess I'll see how I feel tomorrow, when I'm not quite so full and sleepy...