The other day, as I looked into a rather disgusting toilet that I had only just cleaned a few days before and was somewhat perplexed at how this came to be, it dawned on me... I live with four guys. Four! It was yet another light bulb moment which reminded me how life can change in ways we never imagine... never did I imagine my household looking like it does at this moment and never did I think I would be my age with two "sons" in their late teens. Hell, to be perfectly honest, sometimes I look at the kidlet and still wonder "Where the heck did you come from?" And never, never! did it dawn on me I would one day be the smallest person in the house. Once again, the surprise of the inevitable...On the Oprah channel, they constantly flash the saying "The Best of Times is Now..." and this year I really get it. Our household today looks nothing like I imagined it would this time last year... two strangers came to live - one we planned for and one who just came to us unexpectedly - and what a perfectly great fit. As my mother constantly points out, "It's like they have always been here."
As parents, we are experiencing a lot of inevitable and surprise firsts this year... buying the kidlet shoes which are five!! sizes bigger than they were this time last year, the kidlet Facetiming a girl, finally! watching him perform in a school play, having the puberty talk (way to go, paramedic!), going through a dozen eggs in one meal, hearing a 19 year old introduce me as his "mom," hiding in our room while our older "sons" entertain, picking kids up from parties at 2 am, grounding an overgrown kid to the breakfast table until he comes clean with a girl, watching the kidlet's face light up as he is incessantly teased by the older guys over everything from girls, to picking up dog poop, to haircuts, to eating his fruit a day... watching the joy on the kidlet's face has probably been the greatest out of all these truly awesome experiences.
I have learned many things from our new experiences this year - including that, at every hour of every day, you can find either Friends or the Big Bang Theory on at least one channel - and so, despite my favourite Ross Gellar quote of "Nobody likes change except for a wet baby" - I sit on this rare quiet, snowy evening and think "Actually, I do..." What unfolds for us in life is like the greatest surprise gift of all... it would just be super duper if all these surprises came with a cleaning lady.
