Yes, I know it’s Wednesday, but it seems my weekend just ended.

My two grown littles came home for a long weekend! They each live 6 hours away in different directions. I’m so lucky to have a work schedule that is flexible and allows me to make the most of family visits.

With my son being in his first year of residency, his time is at a premium. That fact that he wants to come home and see extended family, and hang with us for conversation, food, and games… well that is just an amazing gift to me. On top of that, he now has his sweet Sarah joining us for the visit which means adding in a constant stream of big warm smiles and lots of happy laughter.

What about this for family love? When Hannah heard that Madison and Sarah were going to be able to come for a visit, her heart pulled her right back home too. Luckily, her Fall Break coincided and allowed her the opportunity to come even in the middle of a really busy and stressful time at school.

This family thing we’ve got going –

I thank my parents for that, and their parents, and on down to my greats.

I grew up with loving, close (proximity & relationship) and expansive extended families. I was fortunate to know all four of my grandparents from childhood to my adult years, and even knew and remember as a kid spending time with 3 of my great grands. We had frequent family gatherings which kept us close and instilled into us the importance of family.

This family tradition is now carried on through this newest generation. They have a deep love and affection for family gatherings, especially at my parents’ house.

Warm & fuzzy, through and through. ?

So what about Jess? How does she fit in to all of these visits? It’s a little complicated, of course. She loves family too. There’s no doubt about that. However, routines and noise – two big factors. Those things do keep her from joining in a lot of the time.

ROUTINE

This weekend, while I was enjoying visiting Hannah, Madison, and Sarah, this was Jessica’s schedule:

Friday with Caregiver
Friday night at her Dad’s
Saturday at Dad’s
Saturday night at Granny’s
Sunday at Granny’s
Sunday night back to me
Monday morning at Nonnie & Granddad’s
Monday night at Nonnie & Granddad’s
Tuesday at Nonnie & Granddad’s
Tuesday 2:00 picked up by caregiver
Home to me Tuesday at dinner time.

NOISE

We had an extended family gathering at my parents’ Sunday evening. But Jess spent most of the time away from the group because of being agitated and bothered by the noise. We didn’t think about taking her headphones, but will next time.

ALL TOGETHER

Tuesday night, my last night with Madison and Sarah until Christmas, Jess was finally part of the group – for a few minutes. I encouraged Jess to join us at the table for our game night and she agreed. She dealt her deck of cards while we played qwirkle. Then, she was ready to go to her room to listen to dogs bark.

But in those few minutes, I had all of my babies around me at my table. It was calm, and everyone was content. And although it was brief, it happened – and that made me whole and happy.

…