Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Turf Wars

The kids and I are having a wonderful time together, but I had to put a moratorium on ugly-stepmother stories. They both dislike her with such intensity that nearly every story about time with their father begins and ends with their anger at his wife. It's not that I don't understand their feelings, I just don't want that stuff to color our time together.

Gang war broke out between flocks of geese visitng the pond this morning. Opposing groups line up and swim at each other menancingly, their necks stretched out as they hiss and spit at each other. Sometimes they flap with such fury they skid across the water in their attempts to drive each other off the pond. My sons says he can hear the music from West Side Story as he watches.

It occurs to me that the kids and the geese are playing out pretty much the same drama. Two groups are trying to claim the same territory, Neither can see there's plenty of room for both, so each fights with all its might to reign supreme. The end result is that no one enjoys the thing they're fighting over. I'm pretty darn sure I've done the same thing myself many, many times.

Funny how it's so easy to see the patterns on the pond.

6 comments:

The Geezers said...

Glad to here your holiday visit is going well. And there's nothing wrong with an occasional evil stepmother story once in awhile. Perhaps there are some you can share with the blogging world?

Amazing how much we can learn by watching nature. The rabbits, birds and squirrels are all sharing bread crumbs outside my window as I write. Plenty for everybody. A bit more peaceful than your pond at the moment.

Carrie Wilson Link said...

Ahhh... me too. The belief in abundance, and refusal to fall for scarcity, is a tough one, but so worth learning.

riversgrace said...

And that you notice the 'play' in relationship says so much about where you have come. Peace.

Michelle O'Neil said...

Maybe instead of sharing stepmother jabs, tell them to write them all down. One of you can use it in a great book of fiction one day?

It's all copy!

: )

Amber said...

I understand where they come from. It is hard not to have it on your mind when you are really bugged (ie;hurt) by someone like that. An dit really all comes from hurt...I ahve been thinking of writing my feelings in a post, because I find myself thinking about my "stepmom", and my non-relationship with my bio-dad, so so often! I hate how it eats at me.

Really it is about their dad, you know. How he handles whatever it is... It is a hard thing.

BUT! I am happy you are having good times with the kids. You should post some pics!

ox :)

holly said...

true to form nature illustrates our energy for us, or we it???

the whole step-parent thing, too much for me to thing about -- can't go anywhere NEAR the though of someone else being so present in my girls' lives ...