Our (Real) Family Update

Dear Family & Friends,

Can you believe another year has flown by so quickly? What a year it has been; and what better way to update everyone than a fabulous Christmas letter. Bear with me as it’s my first time ever writing one of these. Here we go.

We find ourselves at this point of the year with a nine, four, and three year old. Our nine-year-old started a new school five weeks before summer last school year; the circumstances of a complicated co-parenting situation that would literally have you reading for months should I explain it all in this letter. We will skip those gory details and just leave it at him starting a new school. He’s adjusted surprisingly well, made lots of new friends, and had a rock-star report card the first quarter of this year.

We spent every second of every spare moment last spring driving to baseball, driving home from baseball, sitting in the cold and rain at baseball, chasing his brother and sister at baseball, and secretly feeling relieved when baseball was cancelled multiple times during the monsoon season Maryland experienced late spring. We felt less relieved when almost the entire fall football season was rained out and we have mixed feeling about his decision to not play basketball this winter. He will be doing indoor football this winter; stay tuned for the much anticipated decision on spring sports.

The two littles took the giant leap from our wonderful and convenient Ms. T’s next door daycare, to pre-k classrooms at a private church academy. The transition was not smooth, not relaxing, not comforting, and not easy. It only took four months to get to the point in which the three-year-old happily runs into the classroom, hugs me, and voluntarily goes to his seat. I can or cannot confirm that the four-year-old still clings to my leg as I try to leave. It’s a work in progress.

Despite the rough adjustment, they both come home singing bible songs, accusing each other of “sinning” every chance they get, and constantly fighting over who gets to be the teacher when they play school. I never fully understood the term “love/hate relationship” until having children 16 months apart.

Our four-year-old is taking dance class and thankfully has an amazing teacher who has been very patient with her hesitancy of joining in. She’s doing better now and despite her hesitancy, is always excited to go. She’s also perfected the art of persistence; I just wish I could say it was in reference to dance. Some day that persistence will serve her well. For now, however, it’s just about enough to drive us crazy.

Our two-year-old tried out soccer for the first time, which was nothing short of a tremendous fail. Thankfully, that season was mostly rained out as well. We will try again next year. He’s continued to make himself known for his father’s class clown personality. This includes walking around the house a few weeks ago, saying something that sounded an awfully lot like “holy fuck.” He told us his teacher at school says it; pretty sure that’s either inaccurate or he’s trying to say something else.

As for Kenny and I; well we are hanging in there. The average week proceeds with us ending a work day with many things to communicate but collapsing on the couch after the last kid is finally asleep and never communicating any of it. Our year started off with celebrating the always anticipated yearly tax returns that give us a much needed break from the constant stress about finances. That lasted about a week total before the panic seeped back in. Two teacher salaries don’t get you a whole hell of a lot in these parts.

In an attempt to get out of that rut, Kenny is doing an admin cohort through Towson University and is currently beside me at his computer, cursing at the seven page paper he has to write. I’m pretty much doing what I can to survive the rat race of the work week and often feel like I lose a tiny piece of my soul during the shit-show of getting everyone where they need to be every morning. Despite what I see as chaos, none of the kids seem to mind the early alarms, long drives, or breakfast in the car… so I guess I’m doing something right?

Although we mostly feel like we are always rushing to sit in traffic, asking each other what is for dinner, unpacking and repacking lunches, and working harder for less pay; life is still pretty damn great. So here’s to kids that make us laugh, partners that we (think) will still be fun to be around after the kids are grown, those fleeting moments of calm when no one is crying or whining, and the teeny tiny chance that 2019 will be the year we win the lottery.

Happy holidays from our family to yours!