Rebuilding

Our townhouse is surrounded by major construction. For weeks now I have heard hammering, clanking, workman's voices and all sorts of other sounds all day long. It all began when the bottom floor flat in the townhouse next to us flooded. Apparently the flat flooded and two weeks later there was still a foot of black, disgusting water, covering the entire floor. The renters (who we ran into shortly afterwards and gave us the details) left the flat and their ruined belongings behind after getting no response from the landlord. Well, the landlord has definitely responded now in the form of a LOT of construction. We can see and hear the workmen redoing all of the interior and exterior, tossing out ruined belongings, replacing the fire escapes on all the flats, putting in a driveway, on and on and on. And I get to hear it, while trying to put my newborn to sleep, lovely.

If that wasn't bad enough, last week I heard hammering coming from the townhouse on the other side. I looked out the window to see what was going on and hoping that they were just hanging a really big picture. No, it was not going to be quick and simple. Yes, they are putting in a bathroom and now I am completely surrounded by construction and its symphony. I am waiting for it all to end.

And then today it dawned on me. Our family is rebuilding too. We just added a wing to our household - Phinn. We are checking out all of his traits, his likes and dislikes and the added joys of having him in our family. In return, we are each re-validating ourselves and our roles. I am a mother of three now. Being a mother of two is perfectly socially acceptable, but the move to three raises some eyebrows. Especially since we already had a boy and a girl. (I know this just gets worse the larger the family gets). But I wouldn't have it any other way. Enoch is now a big brother and Hilde is an outnumbered girl. Dave has more of us to juggle and spends a lot of time with Hilde and Enoch so I can take care of Phinn. So we are growing, evolving, and learning about ourselves and each other. This is our rebuilding year. And so now I sit here listening to the noises outside and thinking about how excited I am to see how our family is remodeled. And it doesn't end here of course. Because in reality, each year is a building year, I just needed the reminder.