Three months ago, my family packed up and moved to a new town. Not too far away (next door actually). We need a new scene. My boys were getting bullied and the oldest was struggling academically.
We tested the waters out but joining this new town's baseball league. We thought it would be a great way to get to know some of the people we would spend a lot of our time with if we moved and it would allow the boys to look at a game they love with new eyes.
The football and baseball season that preceded this spring were horrible! From grown men bullying their players (and no....not it the way some think is okay....straight up in my son's face calling him a cry baby and another telling my son he is failure at life and will amount to nothing....mind you...because one kid couldn't take 20 tackles in a row from a kid THREE TIMES his size and the other for getting struck out for the second time in single game), to violently touching my sons, to well....it was just ugly. It's several different coaching staffs and we were DONE! For a while, my boys were going to quit sports altogether....afterall the town we lived in made it very clear that they were not good enough...so why bother??
The prospect of getting to show what they know about the games they love to strangers was very exciting for them. They flourished in ways I never thought possible. In this one season of baseball, we found a handful of partners in helping my boys cope their PTSD, handling parenting struggles we were having at home, and a new family of friends. As the baseball season came to a close, the decision was made. This place was home!
It was a hard fight to find a home....from our current property management place (with which we lived THREE years) telling lies about us to our prospective new landlord to coughing up an extra months rent to secure the lease....we fought! I was so pleased with the result.
We live in an actually home! not some townhouse that is barely big enough to house this family. We have a three bed room, single dwelling, with a finished basement and a fenced in yard. Oh my...the deck! I mean seriously!! For just a few bucks more a month we got SO MUCH more! I mean seriously....I am in love with this simple home.
There were quite a few rules that had to be implemented with the new home...rules that pertain to outside time, TV time, cleanliness and the like. The kids very rarely were allowed to play with neighborhood kids and so they spent a lot of time inside playing with one another. This neighborhood seems to lack the animal torturing, property damaging youth that our last one had and so outside play is more encouraged here. There are also more chores that need to be done with the space and that has been quite the adjustment.
I am working on a chart that was suggested to me by a friend....that will be coming soon!!!!
The finished basement has allowed us to give our oldest son some much needed privacy that he had been requesting for quite some time. He got his own room! It has been an experience decorating and arranging it to his liking!! It is far from finished as the child was lacking in possessions! He moved in with a bed! The dresser he used was a shared cubby system with his brothers...so he needed a dresser, an entertainment center, a shelf...wall hangings...you get it...he was starting over!
We lucked out and found the cutest entertainment center for $7 at Walmart on clearance! He hasn't decided what kind of shelving he wants and the dude needs a chair to sit in! His bed is a loft bed...so sitting on the bed to read or chat with his friends is not an option.
I have a few ideas pinned on Pinterest and will share any projects that are used to wrap up his room! I am so very excited for him....it's really hard to believe that I have less then 6 years left with the boy.
~Brandie
