Remember in grade school how there was always some big thing going on that was seriously going to end the world? In our house it happens about once a week that one of the boys isn't friends with someone because his friend said this, or did that, and they would never be friends again.... until tomorrow. My best friend in grade school and I fought like that daily! Who had the better clothes, the better toys, the better haircut, and so on. There was also the issue of "you can't have a crush on that new kid on the block because I do". You can't even imagine how many times the world ended when I was 10! We would plot and scheme and plan all sorts of different things to do. We even started our own club called "The Jean Jacket Club" and you could only be a member if you were our friend and had a jean jacket. Believe me, we still laugh about it to this day. We had sleepovers at my gramma's house, at her house and my house, but I always really liked the one's at my gramma's, because we didn't have siblings bugging us! We did all of these things while fighting like sisters. That was obviously a long time ago, and as years passed we lost contact. I always felt like it wasn't fair because her family must have been rich, and we always had a friend/rivalry sort of relationship. Jump ahead to the present, and now we are friends again, minus the rivalry, and she has become one of my biggest supporters. We lead very different lives, very far apart from one another, and somehow have managed to finally find a middle ground where we can just be friends. It must have something to do with that whole adulthood thing. I hesitate to say grown up, just because I refuse to grow up! From the moment I started on my diet, all through the worst of my depression, up until now, this same friend has been one of my biggest cheerleaders, and I find it really amazing that life can take you in so many circles.
This, of course, leads me to why I'm so happy I have boys. They will come home from school with the same sort of stories. He did this, he said that, we'll never be friends again, but the difference is that there isn't the sneaky sort of crap that girls resort to. It's never about who is fatter, or who has more stuff, or who is a nerd for whatever reason, it's just little things that happened while they were playing. Boys are more forgiving (they also smell worse, maybe that's the answer). They feel slighted, but they find a way to make it work in spite of angry feelings. If I had girls and they had best friends that acted anything like we did I'm pretty sure I would lose my mind, and that's not even counting the fact that if I had any girls they would be just like me, which, let's be honest, could be a real problem!!! If I had to deal with the type of hormonal crap that I went through... and put my parents through, someone might not survive! (I don't wanna go to prison, I'm delicate.) So Mom, I am very sorry for being a crazy bitch. In my adulthood I can see such a huge difference between how I acted and how the boys act. Wyatt has so much of my personality that it's a little scary, but at least he just gets pissed and moves on. He doesn't have the "make mom feel like shit for a week for not washing your favorite shirt" gene. After all that has happened in the last couple weeks I can tell you honestly that I couldn't be luckier in the kid department. It's a little sad that it took so much trauma to make life seem successful, but I do, and it's really wonderful. I say all of this now, a couple years before Junior High, but I really do think that the outlook is good! So if you are reading this, and you are frustrated with your kids, look back on your own childhood, and reflect a little on what was going on, and be greatful for those really awful times, because later, they will be laughable, and trivial, and the present will make up for all of it. It is called the present for a reason you know!
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