the lessons of 2016

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2016 felt like one long giant kick in the balls but, hey, I made it! WE MADE IT! It an effort to remain grateful for even the most gratuitous moments the last year graced me and my family with, I am putting forth as much effort I can muster to appreciate the lessons it taught me. So, without further ado, here is what I learned while doubled over in the fetal position...

  1. Change is almost always good but it is not always easy to embrace or adjust to. 
  2. No one is immune to experiencing the many ebbs and flows of life. All in due time. 
  3. Some years, there will be more ebbing than flowing and that shit will be hard but just know that life has a way of balancing itself out.  
  4. Some days, the kids being fed, warm, and alive is enough. Any self-imposed goals of a day free of tantrums or an adequate consumption of leafy green food will have to fuck themselves back into a Pepperidge Farm non-organic goldfish box where they belong. 
  5. Being tired turns me into an asshole, my kids into tyrants, and my husband into a very scared, emotionally abused man.
  6. Even mommy throws tantrums and even your kids wake up in bad moods for no other reason than wanting to piss you off. Tomorrow is a new day to try harder to not be an asshole. 
  7. Empathy involves listening without speaking, holding space for someones' pain without negating it, and reminding them that they are not alone in their struggle. Life is isolating enough-- hard enough-- without making someone feel terrible for simply being human.  
  8. A great number of people are addicted to outrage. Coincidentally, a great number of people are assholes. 
  9. Anyone who makes you feel like you have to prove your worth is the one guilty of proving that they aren't worthy. I should not and will not justify the degree to which I've only proven I'm human because it makes you feel better about your own lack of humanity. 
  10. Never say never because swallowing those words taste a whole lot more like vinegar than they do honey. Especially when those words begin with "When I'm a parent, I'll never do...."