Sunday, November 23, 2008

What's it like

From time to time I get asked what's it like living with my married children and their kids. Well I can honestly say that it is both great and crazy. About 96% great and 4% crazy. Having the kids around to talk to all the time is great, having the grankids around is nothing short of fantastic! However there are those moments when they are like teenagers again and it can be crazy.

Now I have always liked my alone time and do tend to keep to myself somewhat (see outside deck and other stuff as defense exhibit A). Tressa is the opposite of this, she likes people around and to be doing stuff and in the absence of that she has the TV. Melia bounces back and forth from doing things and nice quiet solitude time. Spencer is kept pretty busy with school and training while Jesse just kind of goes with the flow and is adaptable to most situations. Dee Dee she tries to keep everything up and running smoothly but often has to do it from the road. Now all of this generally blends together in to a sort of an organized chaos.

The 4% crazy happens only when things all go bad at the same time. When multiple people have a tough day and are looking for solitude there is just not much to be found around here. A person can retreat to their bedroom but after awhile it just seems like you have been sent to your room instead of retreating to your room. Planning something for the main room is a dangerous risk because chances are there is already something happening out there. Then of course keeping the three women of the house happy and content is bound to be trouble 4% of the time. Thankfully for me these events seem to happen most when I'm not around. Hmmn maybe there's a connection here. I'm usually just informed of them when I get home or back in the house whichever the case may be.

When the grankids have a bad moment they are generally comforted by picking them up and holding them or doing something with them. Unfortunately this tactic doesn't still work for the rest of the folks in the house. Their concerns and problems generally extend to a little more than I can't see what's happening on the counter or my toy is out of my reach. It's at these times we have to remember that we are all not only physically close but also emotionally close to each other. So we have our storms occasionally but they blow over pretty quick and then is smooth sailing on the AFS (Abrahamson family ship) Chaos.

Meals can be an exciting time seeing if anyone has come up with an idea for dinner or not. I used to take leftovers for my lunch all the time but there doesn't seem to be many leftovers anymore. It seems that the fridge only has two conditions to it either so much food in it I can't find what I'm looking for or so empty there is nothing to eat. I'll have my eye on something that I want to eat that is in there Friday night but by the time I get around to eating on Sat. it's already gone. I've taken to stock piling food up in my classroom for my lunches so that I know that it will be there when I'm ready for it. It seems like the girls didn't eat much when they were in High School so we didn't go through food super fast around here but now that we have adult girls and boys here it goes fast.

Yep it's 96% great and 4% crazy but a 96 is an A on any scale.

1 comment:

track coach and adorable wife said...

Dad, I love when you write blogs, it is like getting to hear from the silent partner. Enjoy!