This week, I closed the book on all the Christmas activities and good intentions that I wanted to do but in the end, just wasn’t able to follow-through on.  I am trying to not focus on these things or regret my prioritization.  I have wonderful kids and I am fortunate that they truly appreciate and love each other.  For this, I am so thankful.  I do know, however, that for any child the addition of a baby to the family will create some unsettling and the adjustment can be a long process.  It’s not just that there is another child to requires love and attention, but this little being also affects everything that we do and how we do it.  In this regard, Franny and Cole have done so well and I could not have asked any more of them.  And for this reason, I have tried to take the holiday season and focus on solidifying our balance as a family and do my best to have them end this tremendous year with a feeling of security and love and not of compromise or trade-off.  For quite a while, I just focused on getting through the day; now, I am focusing on maximizing each day.  Even on a simple, easy day there are so many things that are said and done, and so many opportunities to teach and to learn.  With the addition of Delaney, it has proven to be so much harder to not compromise what I give them of myself, especially my time and my patience.  If there is something that needs to be compromised, it needs to be the what and not the how.  I know, we will not be able to do as much as we once did and how we get through it is not always going to be the most organized and the most perfect.  But I think, when we look and remember days and experiences, the joy will not be in perfection or organization, and if we were even close that won’t even be remembered.  We will remember the joy of being together, in a way that fostered respect, love, and patience.  If we focus on that, we will have endless memories of love and laughter and we will all be closer because of it.

It will be imperfectly perfect.