Torn

I am feeling a little bit parentally neglectful this week...not in my genetic parenting duties, but in my assumed parenting duties. Tomorrow, duh, is Thanksgiving...a time to be spent presumably with family. The Boy and I are taking the girls to his parents house, where all of his brothers and sisters will be, and then hopefully stopping by Big Sis's house, where the pretend family will be.

That leaves Munchkin in kind of a weird spot, though. She could come with us to The Boy's parents house, which she has done in the past and is obviously more than welcome...but I am getting the sense that she sorta doesn't want to. I am not sure if she feels a little bit weird about it, and feels like she is sort of tagging along, or if she just gets sorta bored because there is no one else her age. I don't really know...it's not like she doesn't know his family (she and Twin Sister and Twin Sister's Wife are totally buddies). Maybe she is fifteen and her moods can't be explained;-)

She could also go to Big Sis's and spend the day with the pretend family. And in fact, I think that is what she would rather do (it is also a lot closer, so she doesn't have to be there all day if she doesn't want to). But that, I think, makes her feel kinda weird because I won't be there, and because she is sort of an extra at the family gathering.

Mostly, I just kinda feel like, for maybe the first time in a long time, she is kinda feeling family-less. I am not saying that it is rational, but it does make me awfully sad:-( She is a remarkably balanced and positive young woman, given the loss she has suffered in her life, but I guess that maybe she is capable of thinking about it a little bit more as she gets older, and is becoming more aware of what most people have that she doesn't (you know...parents).

So, grumpy faces all around:-(