The Meltdown

I have had several conversations with friends, neighbors and of course my favorite strangers...about the meltdown.

The meltdown occurs whenever our expectations bump up against reality.  So where do these expectations come from?  Years of fine tuning those around us to meet our needs for a very perfect experience. 

I spent year trying to create the Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving.  Not only did every one show up with their own personalities...not, like the people in the painting, filled with love and joy for all living things...but my turkey never reached the table looking like theirs.

In retrospect I can see I spent the weeks before holidays working up to a nice "hair ball" that I never coughed up but carried through the holiday to finally hack it up after the fact in a nice "post holiday blues."

What has changed for me?  The growth that comes in finally understanding that New Years, Ground Hogs Day, Valentines Day, St. Patty's, Easter, Free Ski Day, Free Dump Day, First Day of School, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas...are not about me and my needs.  The only day I get each year is my birthday and that is why I make it last longer than 24 hours.

Really the joy in seeing my children make their own traditions where they may have taken a little of what they grew up with and mixed it with their own...it is peaceful.  I love fitting into their lives...not making them meet my needs.  I am grateful that they want to fit us into their lives. 

I am in awe of the lives they are creating, the people they are becoming and I really like that I have no meltdowns...for me, life now is all cake...and frosting!