Three Men and a Lady

Oops, this sounds dirty.  I promise it's not-I'm simply using a play on words to describe what's happening between me, my son, boyfriend, and ex-husband. I am constantly tangled up between the three and it can get rough.  Yikes, still sounds bad.

Let me clear it up with metaphors that are less porn and more stars.

My life now revolves around three entities who orbit one another on varying axes.  My son is the sun-the day to my night and seasons to my year. My boyfriend is the moon-the ebb and flow of the tides exists because of our gravity.  I guess then my former husband is Pluto-controversially declassified as a planet and now a dwarf in the universe.

I'll start with the sun, err, my son.  EJ is a sweet, adorably adorable, sometimes annoying boy.  I definitely like him best when he's unobstructed by the clouds of toddlerhood...which is namely wanting what you want, when you want it, all of the time.  Mostly cookies and TV.  But regardless of rain or shine, he's there every day, giving me the warmth and sustenance I need to survive. He is the center of it all.

My sweet, sweet boyfriend is a lovely, constant, consistent, bright spot in my life, and I go to sleep each night knowing that I am loved and cared for.  Plus, he sparkles even more in the dark....when we don't have our children....and there is wine.  Plus, I appreciate his full moon.  Sorry...had to do it.

My ex-husband, once again newly divorced, is a strange, alien creature whom I will never (and never care to) fully understand.  Despite being downgraded in my celestial world, he will forever exist in it as EJ's dad. Luckily, it's been easy to find peace with him for the betterment of our son because as Star Wars has taught us, intergalactic wars are loud, riddled with casualties, and expensive.

So, my life is on a constant rotation with these three beings.  Parenting EJ, co-parenting with the ex, and introductory step-parenting with the beau. EJ and I FaceTime with his dad while my boyfriend and his son are in the other room. I sometimes send the wrong texts during dueling conversations-smooch emojiis to the ex and detailed poop updates to the boyfriend.  I listen to EJ identify the members of the Leptraceratops family in his favorite dinosaur book as himself, mommy, daddy, my boyfriend, my boyfriend's son, and his two half-sisters from his father's second marriage.  This ain't no Brady Bunch, folks.  It's a whole other world, but I guess it's working out just fine.  Come to think of it, the stars do look prettier when spread out chaotically and not perfectly aligned.