Ten years ago in April, Tyler Johnson turned 14. We'd not seen him since he was 12 and his biological dad agreed to let Tyler's stepdad adopt him. Before this year was up, we would halt our plans and move across the river, back to Georgia, where I would add Tyler to my homeschooling line-up and a new installment of 'As The Family Business Spins' would begin.
My children now have a stepmother of their own and though we've only briefly met, I understand the auxiliary nature of my role in Tyler's life better than before, but also the importance of being patient and kind.
Tyler has a mom, whom I didn't try to replace
and a bio-dad I tried to encourage to step into place...
but, in the end,
my willingness,
the trying,
the birthday cakes and hair dying -
now lay buried beneath the lie
that it was not his dad but I
who tried to erase the chapters he was written on
As he now hopes to erase me.
Theory: Make the cake yourself, just as you do for the other children, to demonstrate your love for all is the same.
Theory: Sentimental 'Guess How Much I Love You' board book sends message of deep abiding love.
Theory: Each sibling gives a card they chose on their own, to increase the level of tangible love.
Theory: Fostering togetherness and fun would give them ample chance to bond
This just in: Theories are only theories, you cannot make them work.
Once upon a Savannah time, a hundred years ago,
this girl tried to be a good mom to all those in her shoe
Spoiler alert: She mostly failed.
Two faces of a difficult and unkind coin are to be silenced and at the same time, maligned
