Evergreen

Before I met Andrew, whenever I'd come across a blended family, I always imagined that the relationships within would be dominated by tension and discord. That the number of times the sullen teenager dipped his little stepbrother's toothbrush into the toilet water would exceed the warm and happy times ten-to-one. But we have been lucky or blessed or whatever you want to call it to be able to honestly say that it's much more like a "real" family than we ever could have imagined. There's fighting, but it's mostly between blood-siblings (mine... okay? sigh...) and there's tension and discord and frustration, but it's no different than any other family.

I like to think that we are empowering our children with the life skills necessary to survive out there in the real world. That when they venture out and encounter conflict, that rather than panic, they'll be able to face it all head-on and with confidence. 

Today hasn't exactly been a Martha Stewart Christmas decorating day and nor did we expect it to be. Andrew and I can plan all sorts of lovely festivities but when we start the day with Jake and Ethan rolling up their boogers and burning them in our space heater, we also set flame to our high expectations. Our tree went up despite an inevitable game of Booger Tag, and Andrew made sure that the chocolate chip pancakes that I started to make for breakfast actually got cooked in the middle (he is our culinary saviour).

But when Andrew left for his open house, Freddy, who has been battling a fever for a few days, gave in to The Puke and threw up his morning dose of Tylenol. What was supposed to be a holiday movie theatre day quickly became a stuck-in-the-house day. But despite the disappointment, the kids made the best of everything. I made pumpkin muffins and bread, Jake and Ethan resumed their game of Booger Tag and while Freddy slept, Kylah made him a "get well" card which cheered him up to no end when he finally left his bedroom at 6pm to help decorate the tree.

It's days like this that reveal the true heart of a family, blended or not. We may not have the picture-perfect Christmas postcard but our hearts are all in it. I just wish they'd leave out the boogers and puke.

Decorating the tree together...

This was taken a split second before Katie took justice into her own hands, punching Jake for accidentally kicking her in the face...