Adapt

[picture taken by Audrie]

We are learning about adaptation in school this week. We are learning how specific creatures adapt to survive in their environment. Take this dragonfly, for example. My daughter stumbled upon this creature in our backyard. She thought she found a broken wing that had become caught on a twig. Upon closer examination, though, she realized that the twig was actually the body of the bug. This adaptation, this clever camouflage, enables this creature to hide from its predators, greatly increasing its chance of survival.

We are also learning to adapt in our everyday life. As humans, we become very familiar with this routine of adjusting and changing to face whatever is put in our path. We learn how to welcome new life, or cope with loss; we grow accustomed to the familiar, and are challenged by the unknown; we embrace the successes and trudge through failures, all the while changing, growing, adapting.

At this time in my life, adaptation is a daily necessity. With one child on the brink of becoming a teenager, one child fearlessly learning how to be a little human, and one right in between the two, we are all learning how to make our lives coexist harmoniously, which isn't always easy. My ideas of a daily routine are constantly changing, and structure is falling victim to the unbridled whims of a one year old. It's physically and emotionally exhausting trying to be available for the oldest, attentive to the needs of the middle, while keeping a close eye on the little. But everyday we adapt, and somehow, for that day, we make it work. It's not perfect, or even pretty, but each day has its moments of perfect and pretty. It's those moments that I soak in at the day's end.

And tomorrow we'll adapt and do it all again.

xo

nessa dee