Adaptable. Able to change or be changed in order to fit or work better in some situation or for some purpose.
Being an adaptable parent doesn't mean being a pushover. It just means that you can roll with the punches and keep moving forward.
You can watch a kid fall face first, with no real attempt to catch herself, on a brick floor and not flinch when you pick her up and her face is covered in blood. You're not sure if teeth are missing but you're staying calm and trying to calm her down and clean her up and not let her see her messy bloody face.
You can go into the hospital with a birthing plan that involves absolutely no drugs and end up with an elephant's dose of pitocin and an unplanned c-section. After 23 hours. And you know what? We were both healthy and that is all that mattered. And even when there was a problem, it turned out in the end that it wasn't that bad.
You can watch your husband's guts explode less than a month later and shuttle back and forth from home with your nursing newborn to your husband's hospital bed in the ICU. And you know what? We allluckily amazingly survived, and we eventually became stronger because of it.
You don't give up on hope when things don't go as planned.
You can butt heads with your kids and how they behave, or you can realize that your two children are VERY different and change the way you treat them to make a more peaceful home for everyone.
Adaptable.
You don't freak out when it gets scary and you don't quit when it gets hard.
You change your attitude
and your actions
and your reactions
and your expectations
to make it work.
You can watch a kid fall face first, with no real attempt to catch herself, on a brick floor and not flinch when you pick her up and her face is covered in blood. You're not sure if teeth are missing but you're staying calm and trying to calm her down and clean her up and not let her see her messy bloody face.
You can go into the hospital with a birthing plan that involves absolutely no drugs and end up with an elephant's dose of pitocin and an unplanned c-section. After 23 hours. And you know what? We were both healthy and that is all that mattered. And even when there was a problem, it turned out in the end that it wasn't that bad.
You can watch your husband's guts explode less than a month later and shuttle back and forth from home with your nursing newborn to your husband's hospital bed in the ICU. And you know what? We all
You don't give up on hope when things don't go as planned.
You can butt heads with your kids and how they behave, or you can realize that your two children are VERY different and change the way you treat them to make a more peaceful home for everyone.
Adaptable.
You don't freak out when it gets scary and you don't quit when it gets hard.
You change your attitude
and your actions
and your reactions
and your expectations
to make it work.
Sorry, had to laugh at that first paragraph! Otherwise well said and thoughtful as always. Nonna
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words! Sometimes all you can do is laugh. :)
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