Tuesday, December 29, 2009

All is Calm, All is Bright

I wrote yesterday's post immediately after the stormy bedtime. It was raw and honest and I edited nothing, filtered nothing. And, once again, the outpouring of support has been awesome. I've gotten great comments on the post, messages on Facbeook and by e-mail, had a couple of great phone conversations. Being away from it, not being in the heat of the moment, I don't feel like it's as a big a problem. And I've got a new gameplan in place for tonight's bedtime. Jeff is home with her today and she's played in the snow and been chilling out with Daddy. No sugar, carefully watching what she consumes. He's keeping all confrontations at bay. The next few days just focus on getting back to normalcy, routine. My daughter tests limits. It's her way. My daughter tests and pushes. My daughter's personality has always been demanding and deserving of lots of energy and attention. Not in an unhealthy way, not in an out of control way. At her next doctor's appointment, I will bring it up (if it's still happening). But until then, I've been offered some other resources through church and friends that have me rooted again, grounded again, and feeling far less alone. I think that's a huge part of it... when my compassionate, kind, funny, sweet, loving daughter is screaming, hysterical, crying... it feels like there is no possible way other people are dealing with the same thing. But once I open up and start talking... it turns out that we are far from alone. I wanted to share some peaceful pictures of snow in my neighborhood and around my house. We had a very lovely snowfall Sunday. I love the way my neighborhood looks in the snow. I love our Christmas lights in the snow. I love the sound and scent of snow and the peaceful calm of standing out in the midst of it. So these pictures are just as much for me as they are for you... because I need my calm, too.

9 comments:

Joanna Jenkins said...

Glad things calmed down a bit and you are getting the support you need.

Your snow and Christmas light photos are beautiful. It looks pretty cold but beautiful.

Happy new year

Alison said...

It's always helpful to get some distance from such all-encompassing problems. Sounds like you need a vacation from vacation.

I'm jealous of your snow. But not of the shoveling and scraping.

Eternal Lizdom said...

Not much shoveling or scraping so far. Jeff shoveled our front steps for safety reasons. And my car's heater took care of most of the car coverage! It's been a nice snow- low maintenance but pretty.

Garret said...

Excellent photos. Since I'm behind on the blog, I made the mistake of reading backwards so I have to get the full Teagan story.

Eternal Lizdom said...

Would you believe those are with my camera phone? I love my EnV Touch!! I wanted to grab my good camera and get some more artistic shots but it was too cold to go back out in it!

Teacher Tom said...

Thanks for posting this. I was worried about you!

Wonderful World of Weiners said...

Love that last pic. It's just mesmorizing.

Hallie

Lisa said...

Pretty pictures Liz. I'm glad you were able to get some perspective. Ironically, we had a horrible night with Helen last night. I told her at bedtime that we are going to start a "30 Days to a Happier Helen" on Jan. 1 - it's mostly a program for me to get back into the routine I need to help her.

You are right, it helps to know that others are going through it. Your words yesterday and today were really helpful. Thanks for sharing!

C. Beth said...

I'm so glad things feel better now. I saw that post and I know how HARD it is as a mom when you're confronted with something you just feel is bigger than you are. I wasn't sure what advice to give, so I stayed silent, and I'm glad you got support you needed!