Map of Bulgaria

Map of Bulgaria
Map of Bulgaria

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Groundhog Day

Even though I grew up in Pennsylvania, I've never been much of a Groundhog Day fan. It always seemed a little silly - I don't remember a February where there WASN'T at least six more weeks of winter. And I can never remember if seeing the shadow means more or less winter. And it's always cloudy in PA in February, so how can Phil see a shadow with no sun...you get the idea.

One of our older children mentioned the movie Groundhog Day the other day. They had seen part of it (but not from the beginning) so they didn't quite 'get' it. You really do need to see it from the beginning, and see the progression of the Bill Murray character, to understand it.

The mention of the movie and Groundhog Day got me thinking about the progress we're making at home. Many days feel Groundhog Day-ish (the movie) to me. The same thing, over and over. Naomi teases Simon. Simon hits Naomi. Naomi screams. Simon apologizes. Naomi laughs at him when he apologizes. Simon gets mad that she can't seem to stop laughing/teasing at inappropriate times. Repeat. Same thing the next day (or the next hour). Again.

If I look back to where we were six months ago, there is a definite improvement. It's just hard to see it or feel it in the day-to-day. I don't remember the entire Groundhog Day movie, but it seems that Bill Murray's character, through living those quotidian details over and over, gets the 'hang' of life and changes for the better. 

So, rather than get frustrated by the sameness of it all, I'm trying to see each day as an opportunity to change their character for the better, even though many days it feels like we are 'stuck' in the same pattern of behavior. By working on our responses and trying different things, we are seeing different behaviors in the children, slowly but surely.

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