Rose-coloured Glasses, Meet Reality

Jonas spent last week with my mom and it sounds like he was living every boy's dream. They went mini putting, go-karting, bike riding, swimming and out for lunch. The played cards, board games and hide and seek. They ate junk food, had campfires and stayed up late. He also got to give Nana heart failure with tales of exploring the black bear-infested wilderness with a couple of new friends. Sounds like a blast to me!

Meanwhile, Steve and I got a nice break that we're very thankful for. We got a few things off of our To Do List but the best part was that we spent the week enjoying the silence, and filling it with talk about the immediate and fast-approaching-not-so immediate future. They were rather good conversations, with a combination of practicality and rose-coloured glasses about baby names, the baby's room, our leaky roof, the cats, the floors, dinner time routines, Jonas's schedule, homework, Steve's work schedule, my post-mat leave possibilities, etc.

We have a lot to do before the baby arrives, and there are going to be a lot changes when he or she does join us out here. It all seemed very manageable when we discussed it last week. Seemed - until Jonas came home. Then we were smacked in the face with the realities of raising a 9 year old boy with ADHD. The prospect of doing that and raising a newborn are, well, a little overwhelming at times. Rose-coloured Glasses, meet Reality.

I have to admit to being a little imtimidated about the raising these two kids at the same time. I've become pretty proficient at dealing with multiple kids during my years as a daycare diva and Scout leader. This seems different somehow. Jonas is wondeful and a handful all that the same time. Or, as my favourite on-line group says, easy to love and hard to raise. Older generations would call him a going concern. He got home after 4pm yesteday and there was non-stop noise and action from that moment until he finally fell asleep sometime after 9:30pm. It was one challenge after another. He went to bed in tears, while I laid there taking deep breaths, reminding myself that sometimes real love is tough love. Tough love + a newborn. Yikes!

So much for mama bear feeling like she can take on the world!

Cheers!