Family Time

Our family does not watch a lot of television. For one, it's ridiculous to pay for hundreds of channels we would never watch. And two, we sincerely enjoy our time together.

Each night, we have carved out a dedicated time to DO something together.
After homework, dinner, dishes, and before Z gets ready for bed; we often play a game. Usually our game is accompanied by ice cream.

Lately, we have devolved an addiction to the card game versions of traditional board games. There are several reasons. First, between 7:00 and 8:00, is family time (usually) and we all know you cannot finish a game of real Monopoly in one hour. So we can play as few or as many "hands" of the game as we can fit in the time. Also, it allows for more winners. It has turned out that all three of us are pretty competitive. In order for it to be fun, one player cannot always be winning.

Last night, we played Scrabble SLAM for the first time.
Basically, you start with one, four letter word laid out on the table. For example, "Slam".
Then each player uses the cards in their hand to alter the word by only one letter at a time. The goal is to discard all of the letters in your hand.
So, once we begin; "Slam" turned into "Slap" and then "Slat" and then "Swat" and then back to "Slat"... in a matter of moments. It is the perfect game for a seven year old.
The words are short and he is practicing spelling.
It's certainly fun, but also challenging (even for Ben and I).
We are definitely looking forward to playing it again!

Greeting 2011

Fourteen days now invested into the 11th year of the Third Millennium; sitting here thinking about our life and how strange, wonderful, and at times intimidating it can be. I like to think about the day I decided to move to Maryland, and then the day I met Ben. He was so different then… I was so different then. It has all changed in such drastic ways; and yet only three years and a handful of months have passed since that time.

It is with this knowledge, that we are certain 2011 will bring us many more alterations. After all, we want to grow! We expect a variety of circumstances, some challenging and some wonderful, will shape the way our family operates.

Our family continues to substantiate, the way a blended family ought. It takes time and extreme amounts of understanding. By nature, a blended family exists and grows in a sort of constant transition. From one home to the next. From one week to the next. Amidst all of this, Ben's goal has remained to provide Z with as much consistency and stability as we can.

Identity issues, family values, and even gender roles are at times challenged. Our little seven year old often struggles with who he is. In public, he squirms at the mention of "Step" and has requested I either refer to him as Z or my son. He has told me, "Its not that I don't love my mom, but its kinda like I have two moms. I really like that." And at times, he defiantly tests me, "But you are not my mom…" Once and only once he called me "Evil Stepmother" jokingly. I assured him I am only evil A) in the mornings when I don't have my coffee and B) When you're doing something you really shouldn't be, in which case, I am just doing my job. We both laughed and he received an ample amount of hugs. However, I know in the back of my head that this Little boy is trying so hard to figure out how live two lives.

Despite all of this, Z continues to THRIVE in school. He recently receive an award for not only doing well on his State Standardized Tests, but receiving a 100% on his math test! We have yet to figure out where he get his math skills from, but we sure are thankful!

During conferences, his teacher's only complaint was that Z finishes his work so fast, he does not know what to do with his spare time! Again, so thankful!

All in all, we are looking forward to 2011 and what it holds for us. Hopefully warmer weather soon!