Our New Year

This year I am grateful for many things. As I reflect back on this year, I see how much my family has changed and how much my family has grown.  Every year, I feel that we as a unit, only get better and better. There is more of an understanding of my husband's role at the hospital and there is more of an understanding from my husband, in my role of being home with the kids. There is a mutual respect for what we both do, as we both have grown to realize that we need each others support and that we are both working our butts off. (lol)
The doctor's New Year, begins on July 1st, so it's kind of hard for us to look back and reflect from January 1 to December 31st.  Our year always starts anew in the summer, because July 1st is the beginning of the new year for a Physician, who is completing a residency or fellowship.  This is a time when new interns ( a physician in his first year of residency after graduating from medical school ) starts the beginning of their training, it could simply be a Physician moving into the next year of their training ( a resident ) and it can also be the culmination of a residency or fellowship for those Physicians who have completed their training (usually referred to as the Chief Resident/Fellow).  This is always a positive and exciting time, well it always was for us because it meant being one step close to my husband completing his training.
This year we have experienced many changes. We have survived another move. Fortunately this move was back home for me, so I get to have the comfort of being home and support from my family, which helps us tremendously. My husband also has the comfort of going into Fellowship with colleagues that he has worked with before and finally doing what he loves, as he eventually was successful in the Pediatric Surgery Match.  Although he is working harder than he has ever worked before, I know he is happy finally doing what he loves.
This year for me was a blessing, as I was able to stay at home with my children.  I watched my youngest daughter change from an infant to now a toddler.  I've enjoyed the experience of watching my sons grow into little young men, who love sports, with both developing a love of soccer. It's so wonderful to see the growth in all of my children, especially seeing their own personalities starting to show through, with each developing their own opinions and views. From watching this, I realized that my role as their mother has changed from being the person to introduce them to different things, to now being able to see these activities/moments become of meaning to them.  Such a blessing to be there to now start to help them navigate through these choices in their lives.
As difficult as this journey can be at times, I really do have so much to be thankful for.
Happy and Healthy New Year  Everyone!