It's a lousy feeling when someone doesn't like you or has no respect for you. It happens though. Today we had an unpleasant episode with a neighbor that kind of blew us away. Not that we thought the person loved us but we didn't expect the depth of hostility. And it feels lousy. Hopefully we will come to terms and then can put up fences and go our merry ways. It's sad though. Very sad. I hope we can work it all out peacefully because this kind of thing just takes it out of me.
Of course the boys were upset too…as they were here when things came to a head and damn but you know that if I'm upset I end up crying. Leo hugged me and told me it would be all right and Owen came up with plan after plan after explanation after explanation after point after point to make everything better. Lord but I love those boys.
After everyone had calmed down (and I had stopped crying) I tried to talk to them about the fact that no matter whether you're always in the right (which nobody, including us, is) people just aren't always going to like you and sometimes you have to accept that. And we shouldn't be afraid to approach people that don't seem to like us….which is something that I think exacerbated this issue. I tried to talk to them about the fact that sometimes it's not worth the effort to try to explain or change someone's opinion because their mind is made up. So we just have to accept it and move forward. Easier said than done though….definitely easier said than done.
Now the boys are off swimming at neighbors that hopefully still like us. My eyes are puffy and Ernie's making the potato salad I was supposed to make.
I remember the first few years of Leo's life….he was utterly terrified of the neighborhood fireworks so for several Fourths Ernie watched them from the window of our bedroom (Leo was a daddy's boy) while I sat and watched with my folks and other neighbors. Maybe that's what I'll do tonight…just curl up in our bedroom and watch from the window. Back to our roots you might say.
This morning Ernie and I went for a drive out in the country and I was pleased to see that the corn silks looked like sparklers in honor of the holiday.
Yep, I taught my boys that from a very young age, the ‘not everyone liking you’ part. There will be classmates, teachers, bosses throughout your life. And some people are just jerks, and I don’t care what they think anyway.
Screw ’em. It is universally agreed that you guys are awesome.
Sorry about that incident. Some people are just mean … I’m always grateful that I don’t live my life that way. Just imagine how unhappy they are!