I am so grateful for the relationship I have with my best friend. Sometimes we get it wrong, but we can both say so/hear this and the friendship is strengthened in the long term. She said some very hurtful things in an email (from the midst of her own overwhelm) in trying to be helpful at a really difficult time for me - immediately after my 2.5 hour statement to SOCA last week. We were able to talk about it the following day, and last night she rang and apologised for both the timing and for not "getting it" how much I was struggling with and how incredibly complex it is to deal with.
Also grateful for another gem of a lunchbox note from my big girl to my little girl:
"Being a family means you are part of something very wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life. No matter what!"
(This comes in part from our favourite story Koala Lou* by Mem Fox - "Koala Lou I do love you! I always have and I always will. No matter what!" We have quite a lot of family nicknames, one lot of them is my big girl is Koala Lou and my little is Koala Two.)
*@Tatsinda @sara @Uggbootdiva @Alessandra1992 I highly recommend it if you haven't got this book, very reassuring in the midst of life's sometimes overwhelming waves to read this to your kids and affirm your love for them. Other books I find helpful for this are Bob Graham's Spirit of Hope and a book called Love You Forever by Robert Musch. They all tend to make me cry or get teary but that's ok!
