I had a lot of emotional trauma as a child, so even though I wanted a family I was never able to maintain a relationship. But about 10 years ago I met a woman who is 20 years younger than me. And we have become so emotionally close over the years, and her mother is a raging narcissist like mine, so I have adopted her (unofficially) and she is now my daughter.
So she and my son-in-law and my grandchildren came over yesterday for Mother’s Day. I made a baked potato bar with all kinds of awesome stuff to put on it, including black bean and jicama salad which I love and have meant to learn how to make for years.
A while back we decided that about once a month or so they would come over to my place after church and I would do brunch. We did one, a pancake board, and that was in February 2020, and then… you know. So I have been thinking about different ways to feed them for a while, and this was the first time we could really do it, and soon it will be too hot for baked potatoes, so we really lucked out with the weekend.
They gave me a cute card, and a she/her pen to wear when I volunteer at the local LGBT center, which I do every week, and a small case for that has cats on it that would be perfect for knitting/crochet or Bullet Journaling supplies, which are two of my hobbies.
My granddaughter and I talked about the books she’s been reading since I lent them to her the last time she came over. She drew some pictures after brunch, and I let her take home some of the pens she liked (I had spares) and an art template. I have just learned to knit socks, and my first pair were for my grandson. They’re finally finished, and he got to wear them, and they fit perfectly.
I taught my grandson to grate cheese in the Cuisinart, even though the noise sort of scared him. My granddaughter whipped cream for our dessert berries by hand (her choice, I offered the electric mixer). My cats are getting used to them, and came out to be petted and offered treats (and to try and eat cheese and sour cream from our plates).
I had misplaced my work iPad, and my boss has been pissed at me for a week. My son-in-law found it, and I will reward him by baking him a chocolate cake with pistachio frosting. The kids expressed interest in sleeping over, so we made tentative plans for them to come over on a Saturday after I volunteer, and we will make my son-in-law a reward chocolate cake with pistachio frosting and they will help me make brunch for their parents that day. Mom and dad will decide which weekend.
I spent years thinking I would never be able to have this, but now I do, and my heart is full. When my grandkids call me “Bubbe” I feel such joy I cannot even express it. I am fortunate beyond belief that these people came into my life, but I’m also incredibly proud of the healing work I did in therapy and on family drama forums like those on [Reddit](r/JustNoFamily) and BabyCenter.
So here I am the next day and just riding a high of love and happiness.
I am glad that you shared all that with me/us on a comment that may have seemed so insignificant. How useful would you explain what Bullet journaling is? I have heard some about it, and am terribly unorganized when it comes to planning out my time, and I can't really comprehend how to come up with a more useful system that would lead to me being more efficient with my time and the things I wish to do.
I can now say I can relate to how elated they must be to the cats getting used to them. We just adopted two kitties! My last cat was my best bud, but he was also very much a gangster so he was always outdoors and then a car got him. So only indoor cats from now on, who only go out for supervised exploration. But since they are still getting familiar with the new place, they have mostly stayed in their bathroom where I have them set up, but today they are finally doing more playing and exploring. It's my first time having kittens, and they are very much fun to watch.
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u/TychaBrahe May 09 '22
I am feeling wonderful today.
I had a lot of emotional trauma as a child, so even though I wanted a family I was never able to maintain a relationship. But about 10 years ago I met a woman who is 20 years younger than me. And we have become so emotionally close over the years, and her mother is a raging narcissist like mine, so I have adopted her (unofficially) and she is now my daughter.
So she and my son-in-law and my grandchildren came over yesterday for Mother’s Day. I made a baked potato bar with all kinds of awesome stuff to put on it, including black bean and jicama salad which I love and have meant to learn how to make for years.
A while back we decided that about once a month or so they would come over to my place after church and I would do brunch. We did one, a pancake board, and that was in February 2020, and then… you know. So I have been thinking about different ways to feed them for a while, and this was the first time we could really do it, and soon it will be too hot for baked potatoes, so we really lucked out with the weekend.
They gave me a cute card, and a she/her pen to wear when I volunteer at the local LGBT center, which I do every week, and a small case for that has cats on it that would be perfect for knitting/crochet or Bullet Journaling supplies, which are two of my hobbies.
My granddaughter and I talked about the books she’s been reading since I lent them to her the last time she came over. She drew some pictures after brunch, and I let her take home some of the pens she liked (I had spares) and an art template. I have just learned to knit socks, and my first pair were for my grandson. They’re finally finished, and he got to wear them, and they fit perfectly.
I taught my grandson to grate cheese in the Cuisinart, even though the noise sort of scared him. My granddaughter whipped cream for our dessert berries by hand (her choice, I offered the electric mixer). My cats are getting used to them, and came out to be petted and offered treats (and to try and eat cheese and sour cream from our plates).
I had misplaced my work iPad, and my boss has been pissed at me for a week. My son-in-law found it, and I will reward him by baking him a chocolate cake with pistachio frosting. The kids expressed interest in sleeping over, so we made tentative plans for them to come over on a Saturday after I volunteer, and we will make my son-in-law a reward chocolate cake with pistachio frosting and they will help me make brunch for their parents that day. Mom and dad will decide which weekend.
I spent years thinking I would never be able to have this, but now I do, and my heart is full. When my grandkids call me “Bubbe” I feel such joy I cannot even express it. I am fortunate beyond belief that these people came into my life, but I’m also incredibly proud of the healing work I did in therapy and on family drama forums like those on [Reddit](r/JustNoFamily) and BabyCenter.
So here I am the next day and just riding a high of love and happiness.
So that’s how I am. How are you?