Wow! What a weekend. I have three children and the person I am dating also has three children. The kids’ ages are: 3, 3.5, 6.5, 7, 8.5 and 9.5. We celebrated one birthday Friday night with bowling and cupcakes and then had cake again the next night, arcade games, presents, a romp on top of Mount Royal at night to take in the spectacular view of Montreal (we were even privileged to see three very chubby raccoons living it up in a tree), and Sunday colouring, movies, lunch downtown, cookies from Starbucks (espressos for parents!) and overall excitement, sometimes crying for attention, other times just being plain tired. The theme: fun! It was an interesting sneak peek at what life with six little kids would be like fulltime! I think I would need an intravenous of caffeine…
What I also took away from this was how important it is for my partner and I to be open to all questions our children may have about our relationship. Do we love each other? Do we love each other more than them? And so on. My children still Velcro to me vying for my attention when we are together and when my partners’ kids snuggle with me they do get jealous. I don’t look at this as abnormal. I think like with any new situation, especially after a marriage breakdown with kids, it simply is not easy in the beginning and it will take time. So my partner and I tread lightly, answer all questions and make it very clear that yes we are in love, but they will always come first. And we explain that after a divorce it is okay to get on with our lives and to find love again.
The other day my kids came home and told me their daddy told them he had a girlfriend. I was very happy for him and for them. I talked and will talk nicely about her to make this transition easier for my children because I know it is not easy for them to fully understand and accept.
Sunday night I was back to three children and then at work Monday morning with zero. I sat at my desk for a few moments and thought how peaceful it was but also smiled at how wonderful the weekend was and how I so look forward to a life with zero to six.
