Nature of Relationships

Ahhhh... reminds me of premarital counseling (Hi Jay!)... first and foremost survival tool? Communication! I've been realizing lately  how our methods of communicating have to evolve as we get older. Not just marriage/romantic relationships, but between our children, adult siblings, parents, and heck, even our pets :) As I realized this weekend, sometimes it's hard when interacting with siblings, to remember that we are grown adults with children of our own, and you'd think that the same old arguments over who has to unload the dishwasher wouldn't exist. Or to be able to talk about things without the same sarcasm, joking, or competitive manner that we did as kids. Huh. Definitely a work-in-progress in order to evolve!

My sister was brave (crazy) enough to volunteer to walk the dogs with two babies the other morning- and as much as I love our dogs, I am NOT the Dog Whisperer, and they are not always on their best behavior, so I have to say communication was key in this situation as well. Surprisingly, they all behaved and no one came back crying :)

We decided to spike the hair for fun yesterday- and the different looks I got from Chase had me cracking up... the way he interacts with everybody- each individually and uniquely- always makes me take a step back and appreciate how early relationships develop. You can even see in the pics how Nathan is open and curious, trying to touch and discover... where as Chase looks (glares) and is territorial (get off my toys!)... ha!

The rest of my observations were with family at brunch... my baby brother & his girlfriend, my sister and her guy, my other sister & Nathan, Dave and Chase, me and Chase, the three of us, all of us with Mom, etc... like a flip of a switch we each interact differently- even in subtle ways- and I can't help but be entertained :)

Family!