God has a mighty good sense of humor. I have some downtime coming my way on Thursday as Peter uses up some vacation days before they expire at the end of the year. I guess God is having fun getting me ready to really appreciate and utilize that time. Yesterday’s fiasco at Walmart pales in comparison to today.

You know that spin class I went to this morning? The one where I had all of my good reflection time? Well, it was actually only half a spin class. A worker from the childcare called me out halfway through because Makenzie had gotten sick. She threw up all over their floors. Poor girl! She has never ever ever thrown up before. I felt bad bringing her in to the gym. I had no clue she wasn’t feeling well since she had acted normal all morning. We quickly hightailed it out of there with profuse apologies to the staff.

The rest of my day looked like this -

- sitting on the couch, with a puke bucket, snuggling my daughter and holding her hair back, and wanting to cry watching her feel so ill. All I have to say to that is…this is LIFE, people. And it’s still a blessing.

Oh…I also have to say, PLEASE God don’t let the queasiness I feel be my turn coming. I hope it’s just from having to smell vomit all day. And you’re welcome for that image. Have a good night. 😀

• Do you ever find yourself laughing at the absurdity of some situations? I think sometimes all there is left to do is laugh. Sometimes life is that ridiculous.
• What type of sickness is the worst to you? I hate stomach sickness. I handle it the worst. Give me pain, fevers, stuffy head, etc any day over a stomach bug.

Wow! A lot of you feel my frustration with Walmart yesterday. So after yesterday’s debacle, it felt good to come home from tutoring, eat dinner, and lay down in bed by 8 o’clock. These days, I feel as though I could stay in bed all day. It’s the only place I can ever really get comfortable. In reality though I would likely go stir-crazy. But the thought sure is nice.

In fact, I know I would go more than a little stir-crazy. I couldn’t wait to go to spin today. I somehow always feel better for awhile after workouts. It’s like my physical therapy. Also, my  mental therapy. I knew I wanted to do another Q + A post today and when picking out which to answer, I came across one that needed a bit more thought. Spin became my reflection time.

How do you feel about Makenzie having a close relationship with your father? Do you ever feel guilty for keeping her at a distance from her grandfather? (I ask this because I'm in a similar situation with my dad and daughter.)

While I don’t have as close a relationship with my father as I do with my mother, or even as I could have with him, I never keep M at a distance. She sees him very regularly – just as often as any other grandparent, so at least a couple times per month. I feel comfortable with this because my father is in a better place himself than when he treated me so poorly. He now handles some of the underlying issues that caused problems when I was growing up. Also, I was the main one who ever took the brunt of such hurtful words and hatred. I was the only one he ever hit and that was years ago. I do not negate the wrongfulness of his actions, but I do forgive them. I can’t let that part of my past control me anymore, so I must let it go. And I do not want my grudges to inhibit my daughter’s chance to be loved by those who care for her immensely.

My dad is great with her. He plays, cuddles, laughs, and everything else a grandparent does with her. I won’t lie. It hurts on one level because I missed out on that type of outward affection for much of my childhood. But my pride does not matter here. Makenzie adores him and, as long as he treats her in a way I feel comfortable with, I am happy for her to have that relationship. He makes her happy. It isn’t hurting her in any way. That makes me happy. That’s all that matters.

I will say though, if he ever hurt her in any way (emotionally or physically) or reacted to me that way openly in front of her, then he would lose all contact with her. I honestly don’t ever foresee that happening as he has changed so much from that time, but I did want to put that out there for whoever else may be in this situation. If there were any recognizable chance of harm to my child, I would not allow such an open relationship with him. In sum, it’s always about my daughter’s needs and not my wants or pride.

Wow, that was weighty, but a good discussion as well. I will now send you off to your Tuesday with this. Keep cheery!

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• Where/when do you do some of your best thinking or reflecting?
• For fun - What’s something that made you laugh recently?
• If you have a question you would like me to answer in the Nov series, CLICK TO ASK ME ANYTHING.