My Family Intervention

I hung up the phone feeling both anger and fear.

My friend had just said some things to me that I did not want to hear. We had a bit of a fight.

Then a few days later I met my mom for lunch. After we ordered our food she took out a piece of paper and said she had something she wanted me to hear.

I knew it was serious because she writes things down when she wants her thoughts to come out right.

And don't you know, she basically said the same thing to me as my friend had said. I wasn't nearly as defensive as I was with my friend.

Still . . . Ugh! Crap.

It was about my adult daughter, her baby, and her boyfriend who were all living with us. And there was another baby on the way.

It was time.

It was time to let them find their own digs.

Why was it so hard for me to ask them to leave? I loved having a baby in the house.

But I knew Paul was craving a more quiet space.

By the end of that day, after I left my mom and spoke to Paul, I had garnered the courage to "have the talk."

It's all in the delivery. I could have been stern and laid down the law, but I used a different approach.

After they put the little one to bed, I invited them downstairs and said I had something to share with them.

I was excited now.

They sat on the couch and I began.

"Guess what?" I said enthusiastically. "You're moving out!" I had a big grin on my face.

"Really?" They said wide-eyed, "Where?"

I said, "Anywhere you want? You get to choose. I'm so excited for you to start your new family but you can't do it here. I can help you look and even give you a down payment if you take down the wallpaper from the dining room. What do you think?"

Now they were excited too. We told them we believed in them and the next day they began their search.

Big changes aren't easy.

Sometimes big changes like this don't always work out so smoothly.

When we have to set new boundaries, let someone at work go, tell a partner it's over, or need to take the car keys from a parent, it can be extremely difficult to get the discussion started .

But the longer you put it off, the harder and harder it gets. This also goes for apologizing but that's another newsletter.

So when The Universe gave me two direct confrontative messages from 2 people who loved me, it pushed me to admit that I needed to make that decision and ask them to leave. I took it seriously.

When I thought about how to do it however, being serious wasn't part of my strategy. I decided to be light-hearted about it and it completely changed the energy of the whole thing.

It's now been 8 years since they moved out and they have grown. Not to mention they added 3 more kids and a dog and a cat to the mix.

The kids are growing up fast.

Here's a picture after the Easter Egg hunt at our house on Sunday and then a sibs/cousin Piramid. Remember those?

Don't wait for a Divine intervention to make those changes you know you need to make.

It could be a major turning point in your life like it was for me and Paul. And for the kids too!

It's time for new goals and personal expansion.

What needs changing in your life? Spring is a great time to expand and grow in new ways.

This is also true with the New Moon on April 8th which also happens to be an eclipse.

This is a great time to refocus on needed upgrades in your life and perhaps set some or remove some new boundaries.

If you'd like to bounce an idea off me or want to discuss a boundary that needs to be set, feel free to hop on my calendar for a networking call. I'm happy to listen and give you my best advice.

Happy spring,

Maureen