I had a bad night last night. Really bad.
My son and I got into an argument that quickly devolved into him running shrieking into his room and tearing it apart. The source of this nuclear-level argument? I told him he needed to practice his flute more. I lost my patience with him, removed myself from the situation completely before I lost my temper, and didn’t see my son or my wife for the remainder of the night. I was so frustrated and mad and hurt that I didn’t even have dinner with them.
On top of that there were some surprise expenses that bit into my finances, and money worries only make a bad mood even worse. And on top of that, because of my severely foul mood, I didn’t have the whimsy I wanted to attempt yesterday’s Moebtober prompt, “Draw Me A Star.”
I was in such a bad mood that I didn’t think I’d have the energy to even write a blog for today. But, thankfully, this absolute shit-sandwich of a night landed on a Wednesday, which is gaming night with some of my closest friends. We sometimes refer to ourselves as Nerd Summit, but last night they were my boys.
They didn’t provide special counsel or insight, because I didn’t ask for it and they didn’t need to. As one of them said to me (and another of us having an especially bad night), “Is there anything I can do for you guys besides running tonight’s Pathfinder game?” to which I said, “No, just being here* with you guys is exactly what I need right now.”
*our game nights are remote
And that really was all that was needed. My boys. An ear or a shoulder when asked for, and nothing more than their presence to uplift my otherwise sour spirits. There was a grumpy cloud over my head all night but their combined sunlight managed to burn most of it away.
Thank goodness it was game night with my boys.