Blog...What blog??

The good news or the bad news???

Bad news first, no time to blog!

Good news, family life is finally what we imagined it would be like. Not exactly unicorns, lollipops and rainbows but still livable.

Bad news, I had to give an ultimatum, which I hate and wasn't even sure it was going to work. See the kids were...well, kids when they came to live with us. They got in trouble sure, but it wasn't an all day tantrum and screaming marathon. Someone got in trouble, time out and life went on. Somewhere in between they got this whole tantrum, steal, lie, etc... itch in them and it got out of control.

It felt very much like when their mother was a child and spent her days acting out like that and ruining it for everyone. I could've chalked it up to genetics I guess, but I had already had a taste of kids being kids from these very SAME kids and I didn't want to live my life the way my mother did. Locked up in her house with everything locked away.

Hubs, still clueless as he is about kids and these behaviors that I have lived through, did not want to part with the kids. He still had hope because well, he didn't grow up with their mother. He's only seen the last 7 years and not much of it either.

Me, I was ready to call it quits because I could see the path ahead, it came to a family dinner conversation where I put the truth on the table. Either you guys quit it and move on or I am moving on. I let them know just how dead serious I was because I guess it was just a game to them. I was to the point that if Hubs did not want to send the kids back, I would sign the kids to Hubs and leave.

That's how serious it was.

The very next day things changed...dramatically. That was 10 days ago. Just overnight..POUF!

We've been to the movies, almost all the kids have learned how to ride bikes. There has only been two near tantrum incidents from the boy and NO ONE ELSE! phew!

Don't get me wrong, people have still lied and gotten in trouble, but we move on. I don't think it's all about me saying what I did that made the change. I think it's also what the therapist did when she questioned them about what they eat and Poufy. Somehow, it made them feel closer and more loyal to me because someone was trying to say that I did something bad when I hadn't.

It seemed to make them aware of something. The oldest started hugging me regularly and they just seemed to care. I can see changes in them and the way they treat me and I know it's not all due to the dinner conversation because they came to me and told me something wasn't right. I think the dinner conversation maybe solidified things for them.

So for now things are good, way good and way busy. I'm canceling all appointments for next week and we are just going to chill and finish up some things at home, go to the movies, hang out as a family with no therapy, doctors, dentists, etc... before school starts.

Who knows, I'll probably even get to blog. :-)