Are we nearly there yet?

Nearly there now! Reunited with my children later today, tho a bit of a journey to go and get them. I want to make a note of my learnings, see if I can put them in place for next time they're away for a long stretch.

• I must buy smaller milk cartons when they are not going to be here. Milk that's gone off does not taste nice on cereal.
• I need to make arrangements for the very start at least, so that I'm not on my own and debilitated despite having lots I could do. So no point having a long list of inside tasks or even fun projects that I think I'll do on my own. I've not read a single page of my book whilst they have been gone. But going out on the bike ride with my friend was a fab endorphin maker.
• Little connections with others who mean lots to me helps get me through. A friend texted out of the blue to say she loved me and that meant so much. Another emailed to say she'd spotted I'd not posted much on fb, a sure sign that I'm struggling – I was so touched that she'd noticed. I need to remember to let people know I'm finding things tough cos only then can they help me.
• But of course what I actually need to do most of all is work on my emotional healing. I know that it's not really the children not being here that's hard – it's what it represents when someone goes. The underneath fear about people going and not coming back; the doubts as to whether people really want to be with me; the unresolved feelings of rejection and loss. Until I can heal from all that, every little leaving is going to be overly difficult. I suspect this one is much harder to do than remembering to buy smaller milk, so wish me luck...