Lazy Saturday...

January 5th 2019 

Hmmm lets see...today we were supposed to be catching up with friends for a bbq but they sadly couldn't make it. I am hoping to arrange another time soon as I really enjoy her company and think it would be so good for the kids to hang out together. 

As plans changed, while kids were entertaining themselves on electronics ofcourse (its holidays afterall and them going outside means me going outside and well today I didn't want to...yes shock I know...well I didn't want to deal with noise more to the point), I spent some time on the bass (taught myself Down on the corner) and keyboard (taught myself Amazing Grace), had a coffee and chat with my dear friend Claudette, spent more time watching a movie (We bought a Zoo...also something else but I can't remember what it was, obviously enthralling NOT!), found a TV on market place for the bargain price of $50, pottered about a little bit doing a general tidy and that was pretty much it.

I'm gonna keep it real and tell you it wasn't all rainbows and unicorn farts, and that there were a couple of not so awesome parts of the day!  The first of which was being woken way earlier than I would of like by a squealing (something that I dislike immensely, albeit being due to excitement) child. There were also other things that I'm not going to go into detail about here, but I guess its all part and parcel of dealing with a child with PTSD.  Although I firmly believe that it does not excuse poor behaviour - something Mark and I are not entirely on the same page about so there is always a little conflict between us on those monthly visits.  

I am going to also speak really frankly here and say that although it has been 4 years of having contact with Hosanna, realistically 'time wise' it would only really add up to a year tops...maybe two at a stretch. Which means, that as much as there is a closeness (aka she calls me Mummy, calls the boys her brothers, shows affection and knows without a shadow of a doubt that THIS Mum will indeed keep her safe), the whole blended family thing can be incredibly tricky to navigate, especially considering that for the rest of the month we are a 'family of four'.

BUT we do, because she's our family!  I also made the promise on our wedding day to accept her as my own daughter and so I plan to keep that promise!

So this little rant aside, for the most part, our extended home contact (have to say we feel so blessed that we an awesome relationship with both her fulltime family and the officials involved) went really well and was enjoyable for all!