A good day at the lake

Started off the day, 8am at the lake across the street from our neighborhood. We took our paddleboards and a whitewater kayak (the last of our fleet that we couldn't part with, too many happy memories) and Daniel's RC boat. It should have been smooth as glass that early in the morning but instead it was crazy windy! They didn't care though and had a blast practicing the paddleboards and Loreli tried the kayak which she took to like she was born to it.

There was a moment where Loreli looked like she was heading into a meltdown but maybe her recent training kicked in (use words for your feelings, "I'm mad because..., I'm jealous because...) because she suddenly stopped and said, "I would like to use the other paddle like Mom's." (double bladed instead of a single blade) I said, "Wow Loreli! Great job telling us what you need!" No meltdown, yay!

Later I decided to take Daniel to his swim lessons and leave Loreli to read with Brad while he got some work done. She's supposed to be home with family during this first part of the family intervention, not out in public, until she internalizes ways to deal with her feelings in an acceptable manner. Loreli asked Brad if she could go and Brad said, "No. We are staying here." He said it was only a minute or two and when he looked up she was reading a book to Daniel. No meltdown, yay!

Rest time came and we put Brad's weighted blanket across the kids and they zonked out in no time. If you aren't familiar with weighted blankets you can check them out at Dreamcatchers Weighted Blankets. We bought one for Brad for Christmas because he always loves heavy covers. I talked to the owner and she recommended a 21 pound blanket. It's like sleeping with a dead man in the bed :-) he rarely stirs, rarely snores, rarely has any episodes of restless leg syndrome, and I never hear him stop breathing in the middle of the night (boy that was creepy). Money well spent! We're thinking of having a couple made for both the kids since they like Brad's so much.

Last night Loreli came downstairs, crying. She said she had a nightmare about her bio mom and then it turned into a nightmare about Brad and me dying but she hadn't had enough time to even go to sleep. I pulled her into my lap and she curled up into a ball with her head on my chest and sobbed. Poor baby :-(  Eventually when she calmed down we were able to talk about it a little bit and that calmed her some. I went up to snuggle in bed with her for a few minutes but that turned into this strange time of her telling me her past dreams but I could tell they were stories she was making up on the fly and she was telling them to me very loudly. It felt odd...like she was keeping me there on purpose. I'll have to think about that, feel it out.

She is having to deal with so much. We are all having to deal with so much. It's tough, but the rewards are still worth the hard stuff.