I felt it. And so did Number 5.

I’m not going to keep talking about my house forever. I promise.

But I just want to tell you this little story.

As you already know, on Monday afternoon I spoke with Tyrone, and he let us know that we had been approved for our loan modification and that the foreclosure proceedings on the house had been stopped.

As you can imagine, having an impending foreclosure looming over you is stressful.

There is a good chance you have also heard that children pick up on the stress of their parents.

There has been a ridiculous amount of stress in our home for the past couple of years.

As I mentioned, it has really affected my marriage. But it has also affected my ability to parent my kids the way I want to.

The past two years, the bar I’ve set for myself has been pretty low.

I’ve been operating at the just keep the kids alive level of parenting.

But something happened when Tyrone called.

It was as if all the negative energy from all that stress and worry of whether or not we were going to lose the house was immediately sucked out of it.

It was like the Wizard of Oz when everything goes from black and white to color.

Poof. 

Stress. Gone.

Number 5 got off the bus an hour or so after I got the news.

The kids didn’t know what was going on with our situation.

The only thing they knew was that money was very, very, very tight, and if it wasn’t a necessity, they weren’t getting it.

And after Number 5 came into the house, hung up her stuff, and had her snack, she started cleaning her room.

And then she asked if she could clean the bathroom.

Then she straightened up the mudroom, and when she was finished there, she moved into the playroom.

And she never, ever does that.

Not willingly and of her own accord, anyway.

It was like as soon as she stepped foot into the house it spoke to her and told her everything was going to be better. It was still going to be here to take care of her and protect her and keep her safe.

And I know it sounds cuckoo, but I believe Number 5 felt it as soon as she walked in the door.

And she did her best to make sure the house knew she felt the same exact way.