On Why The Ex-In-Laws Get Our Christmas Card.

Our Christmas cards are stuffed, addressed, sealed and ready to hit the mail tomorrow. {Our cards actually include a Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years greeting, hence the early delivery!}

Our Christmas card recipients are lots and lots of family, friends from then, friends from now, neighbors and J's ex-in-laws.

Yep, we send Christmas cards to my husbands ex-wife {T and M's mom}. And family. {And some of them send them to us too.}

Let me be clear. We are not a poster-child family of perfect blended family life.

We could be the poster-child family of a work-in-progress blended family that goes up and down and up again.

It has always been my goal to get along with everyone in our family situation. {Get along=be able to carry a conversation, smile, be polite.}

I'm being honest when I say there are days we're just not feeling it. Over the years, feelings sometimes get hurt. Things are said in haste or emails read in the wrong tone. None of us are ever quick to apologize. It's complicated and confusing sometimes when there are so many people involved.

This blended family co-parenting is a deep, intricate relationship. For all of us.

But here's the deal. These people, these ex-in-laws of J's, these loved ones of T and M's are just that; loved one's of T and M.

They love T and M and T and M love them.

And because we love T and M, we care about the people that are in their life too.

These people aren't just friends passing through life. They are part of their forever people. When I think about the fact that these family members of T and M's are going to be a part of my life forever, I WANT to get along with them, I WANT to feel comfortable with them, I WANT to know them better for we have a lifetime of life left to live yet.

And these people, they are T and M's people.

This means a lot to T and M especially as they get older. The other day M helped me put stamps on the envelopes and came across her grandparents on her mom's side and her mom and stepdad's cards and she smiled and got excited. Some years she'll tuck a special note in for them. Some years she's drawn pictures on the envelope. This year she didn't do either but she noticed.

She noticed that we care about her people.

And I can't think of many better ways that we can show her how much we love her than loving her people.