Happy Friday....What's going on?

I typed a big post and it will only post the first sentence

I started my weekend this morning by helping my wife babysit a friend's 6-month-old daughter. My wife went to the coffee shop to knit this morning (as she does every morning), came back home, and said, "I have a surprise for you." That surprise was baby Betsy. We watched her for about three hours and it was glorious. We absolutely love babysitting little ones! We always watch our 18-month-old neighbor boy, too. They are our surrogate grand children!! Not sure what the rest of the weekend will consist of, but I hope there are more babies involved!

That soup sounds amaaaaazing, @tiredmom!!! Enjoy it! And have a GREAT weekend!!!

P.S. I'm happy for your Steelers. Unfortunately, I've lived my entire life in the land of the Detroit Lions.

@dominica ooooohh that's so exciting! I'm envious. New grand babies are wonderful!

Broncos fan here.... my son is named Peyton

I wish it would let me post my replies!

@Vicbrenan are you on mobile or tablet? not sure if that's messing with it... maybe try logging out and logging back in? hmmmm. let us know ....

@mammakim oooh, let us know whatcha wanna cook for dinner... i'm into trying out healthier cooking options....i have a pinterest board, which helps me remember that there are more meals than my "go-tos" that i make all the time. lol

@tiredmom Hey there! That sounds like a wonderful way to enjoy dinner with your husband and family! Good for you for practicing self-care and treating yourself to something great! I hope it went well!

@tiredmom I'm glad that you enjoyed your dinner and your evening. I think that's great that you went about your own business and let your son be as he was. I'm glad that he's doing better than he was a year ago. I know when I was reading that Beyond Addiction book, there were a lot of helpful tidbits on how to best support someone who is trying. It sounds as if he is trying, but continues to relapse. Change definitely time and is Progressive. So we'll continue to pray that he progresses in a good way.

This reminds me of something in the 20 minutes guide:

"Acting on your emotions by breaking down, confronting, or detaching is counter-productive in many ways. Let us count them: 1) you ultimately feel worse (for losing control, for saying things you regret); 2) you help your child divert attention from their actions by making you the problem (“my mom’s crazy,” “she always overreacts”); 3) your child may cope with the negative feelings brought on by the situation by turning to substances more (this is not to blame you for your child’s behavior, but to help you do everything you can to remove yourself as her excuse); 4) a truth about motivation: confrontation leads to resistance and your child’s motivation is likely to drop; and 5) as your relationship deteriorates due to conflict or detachment, so does your positive influence.

The alternative to acting on your negative feelings is to manage them and find ways to be calm and non-confrontational. Engaging with your child in this way does not mean you are passively accepting risky behavior; it means your child will more likely hear what you think about the behavior and, more important, about healthier ways to behave. Staying connected in a calmer way also lets her know you care (whatever she says in the heat of the moment, trust that she cares that you care) and are prepared to stay the course. Not least, you will be modeling the behavior you want to see from your child.

Easier said than done, right?"

But you are doing this!

Thanks @dominca That was very helpful. I did start reading the beyond addiction book, but am still at the beginning of it, as I read and then reread so it sinks in. Lol. I appreciate your taking the time to type all that. It definitely makes sense. I'm getting better at staying calm but I think some of it has to do with how bad he is reacting. For instance, if he is bouncing off the walls, my anxiety gets pretty bad and being near him and watching the extreme behavior is like fingernails down a blackboard! But I am definitely getting better with my own reaction. My biggest problem is as I'm getting older, I like quiet. The quieter the better. I'm going to keep reading and am hoping once I get through all the fall cleanup and leaf raking, I am going to find a Nar anon meeting. Thanks again.

@tiredmom Oh I hear you on the wanting and needing quiet. I've actually grown to love silence. So I could totally understand how that would get under one's skin.

I enjoyed nar-anon when i went. It helps balance me out emotionally and it gave me a chance to support others.

@tiredmom that's like the time when i got into this toxic relationship and i was a hot emotional mess....had no idea how to manage my emotions b/c i stuffed them my whole life...and for the first time, i just couldn't.... like, i literally couldn't!!!

and my partner at the time, who was in NA, says, "maybe you should go to Nar-Anon"... and i was soooooooooo mad about this, thinking there was NO WAY i needed to go to a meeting where everyone was boo-hooing...

but you know what? that's exactly what i needed. lol and i finally did go and glad about that!

@dominica I have a pinterest too. I add millions of recipes but haven't experimented too much. I also have craft items and decorating ideas. I should make it my goal to try a couple pins a month.
@tiredmom jealous of the lobsters, I haven't had one in a long time. I hope you enjoyed it.

@mammakim I love lobster and could eat it every day if it weren't so darn expensive. I took a vacation to Maine once and the lobster was really cheap since its available right there. I ate it every day for a week. Lobster everything! Lol

It's not hard to cook @mammakim. Boil or broil. About right now I would like to broil my son. You know the story where the witch tries to push the boy in the oven! He came home tonight high! He's using about every 5 days now is really pi..ing me off. I didn't freak out. I just said what I thought calmly and he went up to his room and went to sleep. Insanity!