Today has been a fairly long day. Sweet Pea had a sleepover last night with one of her best friends, J-Lo. In order to give Sweet Pea some of the space and responsibility she craves as a growing "tween," I had Little Bit spend the night in bed with me.
That alone made for a long night, but in the middle of the night, right after Dale called to tell me he was in Germany, J-Lo came downstairs and told me she was having trouble sleeping. This was around 12:30.
But to top it off, when I was getting ready for the day, Sweet Pea and Little Bit decided to start arguing. Not just simple siblings fussing, but down and out arguing!
And I realized what the differences are. No, not in my girls. With Dale's first deployment, I had never lived alone before, and I had to learn to rely on God. With Dale's second deployment, I had to learn that I couldn't do it all by myself, and that sometimes I had to ask for help. That God put people in my path to help me.
Today, I realized that last time, Sweet Pea was 6 and Little Bit was a newborn. Really, all I had to worry about for the most part was their physical needs. I did have a bit of sibling rivalry to deal with, but there wasn't a whole lot of that. Today I realized, that is not the case this time.
Sweet Pea will be 12 next month. Little Bit is 5, almost 6. Sweet Pea is a "tween"-ager and going through all the emotions and feelings and hype that goes with it. And Little Bit is her mirror, learning and doing everything her big sister does.
It seems like what I'm supposed to learn this time is how to take care of their emotional needs. Which is hard, because I don't always know how to take care of my own emotional needs. I think I see more time in prayer this time, more reliance on God, and more asking for help.
I guess I'm just getting it out. I don't really expect any comments. I just need to put my feelings down. Anyway... If you think about it, remember us in prayers. It's going to be a long year.
Oh, one thing happened that did make me smile. Nana woke me up around 5 this morning to go out. After we got back, and I had crawled back into bed, Little Bit sort of woke up. Nana realized she was in bed with me and got VERY excited to see her. It was really cute and funny.
Hugs,
Melinda
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I'm so glad you're here. I love reading comments, and I love making new friends. I hope you enjoy my little blog.
Hugs,
Melinda