Travels

Last month I went to India with my parents. It was a once in a lifetime trip and I am so happy it all came together and my parents so generously paid for my part of the trip. I had never been away from Miles that long before and I was very apprehensive about it. But I made the decision to become more than a wife and mother again. For 5 years of marriage Ive waited around for my husband to travel together and it never happened. He just does not like it. And I end up feeling rejected and stressed. So this year I am doing the things I used to do before I was married. Like take a trip on my birthday. I had a terrible dream and decided that I truly need to go visit my brother Duane in Germany and have Miles meet those cousins. After much pleading to no avail Norris still refused to go with us. So I booked our tickets for just Miles and I. Im not happy about it. But I cant live waiting for him to be like me. However the next week he booked himself a trip to puerto rico for a karate retreat and said we cant come because we cant afford the two trips. But just this week he said he wants us all to go to atlanta in may for his cousins high school graduation. Im pretty amused how the money is no longer an issue but genuinely concerned that all this is very unaffordable for us. Also his mother continues to completely ignore me and pretend I dont exist, back to calling the house and talking to me like the housekeeper who answered the phone. She seriously came to visit while I was in India and was careful to book her ticket so she never had to see me on either end of the trip. I was surprised to hear Norris commemt on how blatantly rude this was. I know he will never say anything to her on my behalf and I dont feel I have a right to say anything and that does not sit well with me. I'm just going to have to accept and live my life. I do not know what else I can do. I do know to focus on the good makes me calmer. So the good is that Miles is really gettibg into reading. He has whole books memorized that he will read aloud. He likes having the dogs captive and reading to them. They seem to like it. He has a little crush at school. Her name is Maia. Which would have been his name if he was a girl. I like her. Shes a real spitfire, no wallflower! She likes me too, she is very conversatiomal and likes to comment on jewelry or colors Im wearing when I pick him up from school. Ha ha! Maybe Maia could give me some tips to work on my MIL!
Miles is going through a period now where friendsnips are important to him. He asks for playdates with specific friemds amd is very well liked by a lot of kids at home and school.
It was a great compliment to him the other night when he had his first aleepover at Kari Lewis' house and in the morning when I picked him up she said that if her baby turns out to be a boy she would like parenting advice from me because he was such a pleasant, well behaved and gentle guest. I do feel like I earned some credit for that but mostly I credit Miles himself and his innate intelligence and kindness. I know Im letting it all be known in this post but I also feel that I want Miles to know the dynamics of what went on when he was little too. I grew up with a lot of being told everything is great even though it was really not and I think its better for kids to develop with truth rather than varnish to a certain extent.