My sister in law, her husband, and their two kids from Arizona just left yesterday after a week long visit here. It was fun to have them here, although after the first night we had to ask them to go to a hotel because Ellen was just going to have NONE of sleeping in an unfamiliar room. And no sleep for Ellen means no sleep for Mommy or Daddy, which makes for grumpy hosts.

Its so interesting to see how differently and similarly siblings raise their children. Since I have no nieces or nephews on my side, I watch Steve’s siblings and their children a lot. In general, I think his siblings have been much more lenient with their children than we are with Will. It makes me wonder if we are too hard on Will. I just DON’T think so, but regarding parenting, I’m always able to wonder if our approach needs tweaking. We just expect Will to be a good listener, and we are pretty strict about it. We expect Will to say please and thank you, and are pretty strict about it. I don’t want Will to feel like he has to be actively grateful all day long for everything we do for him (after all, we signed up for this, he didn’t), but I don’t want either Will or Ellen going through life expecting that others will accommodate their every need or desire without at least a polite request and sufficient (and vocalized) appreciation. And, I would hope that if our approach with Will IS too hard that we would see negative signs in some aspect of his life or personality, and we just don’t. I wish there was some authority you could go to as a parent as get a stamp of approval for having the right approach/technique for your particular child. I’ve met enough parents who think their own opinion is a sufficient stamp of approval and will spend all day long telling you how their approach is RIGHT, and then their kids rebel hardcore.

Steve and I are sleeping in the same bed again. Have I mentioned that? Tori’s entry about co-sleeping not being the way of things at their house made me think of it – Steve and I went a different route and just slept apart for two years while each of the babies was still waking up at night. It definitely worked for us, but it wasn’t without some sacrifice. We to work hard to remain physically close during the other times of the day (I even mean just snuggling – its hard to fit that in with a) kids and b) kids who don’t sleep well at night and c) after a long and tiring day. So, it’s a treat to be able to sleep in our king size tempurpedic bed together. My back feels great and I feel close to Steve.

My check in last week wasn’t very gratifying – I didn’t lose anything. I suppose maintaining while traveling (2 nights at WI Dells and family in town) is okay, but I just FEEL like I’m doing SO well. To not see that reflected on the scale or in the measurements isn’t very fun. Here’s hoping for a better result this Saturday.

Steve and I have a PNO this Friday. Not sure what we’ll do with ourselves. S has become almost incapable of enjoying a sit-down dinner in a restaurant, which is a big part of what people do when they are having an “evening off”. We’ll have to figure something else out. Rather, S will have to, since he’ll know best what he’s comfortable doing that I’ll also enjoy.

I definitely feel like the conscious re-commitment I made to my side of things (meaning the things I have control over) in our marriage has been successful – both internally towards myself and externally towards Steve. Its not that there haven’t been disagreements or mood swings on both our parts, but I’m just better able to weather them. I think S is actually going through some type of personal upheaval, and while he is able to verbalize some of it, really all I can do is love him and support him through it. I’m more convinced than I’ve ever been that I am so very important to him – so it makes it easier to feel like we have a safe space to fall apart within, without having to worry about the walls collapsing too.
Does that make sense? I know what I mean as I write the above , but I’m not sure if I can convey my meaning very well.

I’m jumping all over the place here.

I brought my stepper to work and some step workout DVDs, and will do one for my workout today.

I’m so glad that together, Steve and I have managed our money well enough that we really don’t have any major concerns if the economy continues to be so problematic. We have nearly no debt (other than our mortgages on our main and rental homes), we are very close o selling our La Crosse house, we are saving seriously for retirement and the kids’ college educations. We have less liquid in the bank than we’d like, but should be able to build that cushion over the next 6 months, assuming I keep my job. I have very little concern about the stability of my job. Knock on wood, and anything could happen, but at least we are in the best possible starting point should an emergency occur. It makes me one of the “concerned but not panicked” Americans right now.

I hope that the focus on the economy doesn’t detract from the issue of global warming that got such traction this year.

I’m worried about my mom. Her G/B aka CIDP isn’t getting any better. She has to have a long transfusion every 5 weeks still, and who knows what that will do to her over time? It’s a strange worry because its not immediate the way my worry over, say, cancer, would be, but its something that nags at me almost subconsciously.

I think about it without my mind actually acknowledging it every day.

Soon, at least, the kids will be old enough to deal with a 10 hour drive to OKC, so we don’t have to spend SO much on plane tickets and the hassle of air travel. Then I can see her more, I think.