I needed to let the experience sit for a bit before I could write about it.
Having his kids over was great. Getting a little bit of time to establish my own expectations, teach about my methods of rule enforcement, and most importantly having an opportunity to bond without their father there was priceless. I feel a more familiar love taking root with them (as opposed to the regular love that one feels for any human being that represents the bright future of humanity) every chance we get to spend more time together.
I don't think I realized the amount of pressure hovering over me for the sleepover until the next morning. It was something I suggested to satisfy my boyfriend's desire to be methodical and thoughtful about getting our families more involved with each other. When he left that night I felt a bit abandoned and scared, even though I came up with the idea. The next morning, he arrived late and didn't join for breakfast, which exacerbated those feelings.
I went away for the rest of the weekend on a pre-planned trip to visit my best friend, and got to talk out loud about it, plenty. Now that I'm back home, the anxiety melted away and I simply feel that much closer both to him and his kids.
This experience wasn't really meant to be about me, so all of these feelings hit me from left field.
As far as the kids go, all four had a great time together, and his son was especially satisfied with the great fun he had.
Signing off tonight with a warm heart ♡
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Let's Try This Again
Clearly my commitment issues aren't limited to men alone. Blogging gives me trouble, too.
I'm a woman in my thirties with two teenage daughters and a blossoming career at a big firm. I've been single for the better part of the last decade. There were probably close to 100 men that I've met through online dating over the last few years, and none that ever earned any affectionate title beyond "Dearest." Suddenly I find myself in a viable relationship with a guy who has two younger children. I'm referring to my "boyfriend" and it never feels natural rolling off of my tongue. I force myself to admit it out loud to stretch my comfort zone further and further away from glorious predictable solitude.
Tomorrow night his kids are coming over to spend the night at my place for the first time. He won't stay. We want them to feel comfortable building their own space and identity in my home, instead of trying to carve out room in a place where Dad has already found his groove. The latter seems to force the kids into adapting to his decisions, whereas the former is aimed at allowing them the opportunity to feel like this is something they're excited for rather than subjected to.
Good luck to me finding information about this online. There was nothing. Lots of stuff about "dealing" with the boyfriend's kids, meeting them for the first time, or how to approach the relationship when it's first starting out. And there were some things about preparing your kids for the marriage you'll be going in to.
But we're past that and not there yet. We've been dating 7 months. His kids and my kids get together and huddle into a room to entertain themselves. We display our normal level of affection in front of them. We all like each other already. The other day his youngest leaned against me for a light hug when we were in line to buy strawberries at the local pick-your-own farm. It already feels...natural.
While my children are old enough to think I'm weird and embarrassing for being the only perpetually single mother ever, his babies have fond memories within the past couple of years of their parents still being a pair. We need to be careful and cognizant and deliberate about the way we proceed. My hope is that blogging about it will help chronicle how this pans out, so maybe someone else will find ideas to apply (or not apply).
Tomorrow, the plan is to do pizza and a movie, followed by lights out with electronics allowed past the normal bed time.He My boyfriend will go home before lights out, and will come back in the morning for breakfast.
Simple, right? I don't need to find 35 blog posts or magazine articles to tell me the best thing to do and the best way to do it, right? Our collective moral compasses and love for our children is all we need to make sure the way we continue to overlap our lives is healthy...right?
I'm a woman in my thirties with two teenage daughters and a blossoming career at a big firm. I've been single for the better part of the last decade. There were probably close to 100 men that I've met through online dating over the last few years, and none that ever earned any affectionate title beyond "Dearest." Suddenly I find myself in a viable relationship with a guy who has two younger children. I'm referring to my "boyfriend" and it never feels natural rolling off of my tongue. I force myself to admit it out loud to stretch my comfort zone further and further away from glorious predictable solitude.
Tomorrow night his kids are coming over to spend the night at my place for the first time. He won't stay. We want them to feel comfortable building their own space and identity in my home, instead of trying to carve out room in a place where Dad has already found his groove. The latter seems to force the kids into adapting to his decisions, whereas the former is aimed at allowing them the opportunity to feel like this is something they're excited for rather than subjected to.
Good luck to me finding information about this online. There was nothing. Lots of stuff about "dealing" with the boyfriend's kids, meeting them for the first time, or how to approach the relationship when it's first starting out. And there were some things about preparing your kids for the marriage you'll be going in to.
But we're past that and not there yet. We've been dating 7 months. His kids and my kids get together and huddle into a room to entertain themselves. We display our normal level of affection in front of them. We all like each other already. The other day his youngest leaned against me for a light hug when we were in line to buy strawberries at the local pick-your-own farm. It already feels...natural.
While my children are old enough to think I'm weird and embarrassing for being the only perpetually single mother ever, his babies have fond memories within the past couple of years of their parents still being a pair. We need to be careful and cognizant and deliberate about the way we proceed. My hope is that blogging about it will help chronicle how this pans out, so maybe someone else will find ideas to apply (or not apply).
Tomorrow, the plan is to do pizza and a movie, followed by lights out with electronics allowed past the normal bed time.
Simple, right? I don't need to find 35 blog posts or magazine articles to tell me the best thing to do and the best way to do it, right? Our collective moral compasses and love for our children is all we need to make sure the way we continue to overlap our lives is healthy...right?
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