whew!

Tags

child rearing, daughters, family fun, father-daughter relationship, single mom, single mum, single parenting, vacation, vacation with father

So, I’ve been busy posting about our trip to Jordan on my new travel orientated blog over at thebolingirlsontheroad.wordpress.com and it seems to be going nicely. I’ve also been posting other posts from here regarding our other travel adventures:

London last year, China in 2013, and I’m getting ready to repost about our trip on the rails in 2012 when I started this blog. It’s the 150th anniversary of the National Parks Service so it seems appropriate to finish out August with posts about our time at Glacier National Park.

In the meantime, Amelia is over at her fathers. We got back on the 21st of July from our amazing time in Jordan, had a week to get back into the swing of things, and then remembered that this week would be a week of vacation out with the dad. Whew! At first Amelia was not too terribly thrilled to even think about the prospects of being away from all that she was just getting back into:

“What?! Seriously?! I just got back and now I have to go off again? Ugh!”

And then she quickly started remembering all the things that she and her father had been planning for this time together and she was able to reframe things in her head. I was proud of her. It is hard to be away, come back and get readjusted to life at home again, and then have to leave just as quickly as you left it all. It was made a little easier in the thought that her first week back from travels found all her normal friends in the neighbourhood gone and not available for play – bummer. She wrote a big note on the front storm door for all to see: “I AM SOOO BACK!” in hopes that it would bring her friends out of the woodwork. It didn’t until the weekend and then it was off to her dad’s – bummer.

I’ve talked with her a few times. She usually calls at night when she’s trying to get to sleep. Today is supposed to be a day of fun floating down a river near the farmette. There’s also a new kitten on hand to help make things more interesting and enjoyable.

I’m glad she’s finding things are mostly nice out there. It’s hard when I hear things aren’t what I’d hope they would be for her. Her father and I mostly agree on how to handle certain situations, but there are a few things that I wish were different for her. But she’s able to call me now when she needs to feel comforted when she doesn’t feel like she can ask for it out with her dad. It’s sad, but at least she and I have worked together to help her figure out a solution that works for her.

It’s awfully quite around the house and Alistair, one of the cats, misses her terribly. He’s more affectionate with me and mum when she’s away. For all her wallowing on him, he does miss her when she goes away.

Two more days and she’s back. I’ll start counting the hours tomorrow and pacing the floor on Saturday morning when she’s supposed to be come back.