on family trains

Not so much we can really choose about our families, is there? Just our partner. Parents, offspring, everyone else - mothers in law! are pure luck of the draw. Or what you were dealt.

I finally had to see my MIL. Mikey said that since she's going back to Paris tomorrow, the whole fam-clan was going to have dinner and it would be pretty bad if I didn't come. I bit the bullet. Went.

And man oh, man! I haven't been in a climate that frigid since Vermont in winter! Wow! It was more like arctic than vermont-ish. She sat stiffly on her couch and commented or queried on things like why Micah wasn't kissing her... I sat stiffly on mine and shrugged away for the most part.

She wasn't outright insulting. Big, huge improvement. Just sullen, cold, unpleasant. But still, her just being sullen, cold and unpleasant is a huge leap forward.

Today we headed over Tilden Park for a train-riding frenzy (they have super cool mini stream trains that drive Micah into a joyous trance) and went round and round the tracks, the beautiful sun streaming through the redwoods on us, around us. Warm. I was looking at Mikey and then us both at Micah, sitting still in the absorption of his delight. I was so happy that this here is my family, my very own little clan. My partner of choice and my little boy that I would have chosen if I could but didn't even have to.

And I'm grateful.

Here they are, wows and all: