Oh, woe is me! I know it's not a lot in the grand scheme of things but I've been up and down all night with what I thought was toothache but now think is earache, especially as it is soooo much worse when I lie down. I keep worrying in case the baby decides to come when I'm feeling so ill - it would be just my luck. DH is snoring like a baby, as is DD, and I'm creeping about the house, looking up remedies on the internet for this pain besides paracetamol which isn't helping at all.
Erika Things didn't improve overnight with my parents when I first moved out and we went through a tough time for quite a while, just meeting at neutral places for a drink, chatting and when we were ready to, talking about how we felt. We moved on to going to each others' houses for a bite to eat or coffee, sometimes just to chat about rubbish really rather than anything significant but it gave us both the opportunity to see and respect each other as adults rather than parents and daughter. I'd say it took a bit less than a year to start feeling comfortable in each others space again but after that, the relationship just went from strength to strength.
I'm going to be 29 in a couple of weeks time (by which time I hope to have a baby in my arms rather than still in my bump!) and we have a very open relationship now. I actually now live north of Newcastle whilst they're still in the Isle of Man but we visit each other and chat regularly on the phone. My mum told me over the weekend that if DD turned out to be half the woman I had become, I should be very proud of her, which touched me so much.
So in a very long winded way (I'm going to blame not feeling well for that one), yes in hindsight things improved so much after I moved out and I honestly believe if I hadn't done it when I did, I wouldn't have my parents in my life now. Try to keep your chin up and focus on yourself, Bryn and DP and view this as another storm that life expects you to weather but one which will ultimately make you stronger. If nothing else, in years to come when Bryn is a teenager and you're going through the inevitable clashes, no matter how minor, remember how certain things your mum said upset you and try and work things out in a different way than she perhaps would.
Goodness me, sorry about all that! I'm going to try again to get some sleep before DD gets up in an hour - I think I've prattled on quite enough.
Very quickly, Koumak, so lovely to hear how you're getting on and whoever suggested the thermos cup is a genius - I'm going to send DH out to get one before our baby is born!