January 20, 2017

Man!  Emma makes a killer bruschetta on sour dough bread!  And apparently it has the power to heal hearts.  Forgiveness is a beautiful thing.

When the girls got home from school yesterday, I sat them down for a little talk.  I told them something I hope they always remember: if you aren't careful, love can grow into hate.  Then I said, If you don't believe me, just look at the millions of divorces out there.  We talked about giving each other a little more space by putting Emma into the guest room for a while.  It has a T.V., a big King-size bed, and its own bathroom.  But try as I might, I couldn't get the girls to agree.  They begged and begged to stay roommates.  With tears in their eyes, they told me how much they love to laugh and talk at night, how much fun they usually have together, how much they would miss each other if they were apart.  Earlier in the day, Emma had texted Julia.  They had both apologized and made a pact to get along better.  They had also texted me with heartfelt pleas of forgiveness.  So, we made a deal about letting them stay together.  We made a promise to love each other more.  Then, I gave them the task of fixing up some bruschetta for dinner--together.

They laughed and chopped and stirred, love filling the kitchen as they worked.  And when Greg got home, we filled his belly too.  With bruschetta and love.  It was such a good dinner.

When you only have one sister, you just HAVE to be best friends!

Then Greg rushed off to basketball with the boys and Julia, and I took Emma to Polynesian Dance.  A few hours later, everyone had showered and was tucked into bed.  Greg and I snuggled up together in our warm bed to watch a football documentary.  And I couldn't help but notice the difference a day makes.  My big fat motherhood failure didn't feel like much of a failure anymore.

Being in a family is full of ups and downs.  We fight and make up.  We struggle and try.  But at the end of the day, we love each other.  And we eat toasted sour dough bread with a scoop of bruschetta.  It doesn't get much better than that.