do you keep a journal?
do you ever flip open to a page for a peek back at your own reality?
i just did and it did this momma's heart good too.
*****
21 may 2012
It’s 6:50am and the house is silent – a rarity within these
four walls.
My eldest children hitched a ride to school with Nana and I just
kissed my husband farewell as he breezed out of the door to work with his third
cup of coffee this morning in hand.
I am left with the littlest rascal still
slumbering upstairs; unusually late for her.
In the next 30 minutes I have myself and baby to get ready
before I too must leave the comfort of our home and venture into the day.
It
promises to be a busy one: drop little one off to spend morning with Grandma,
volunteer at ‘field day’ for a few hours (which promises to be a treat since
it’s raining), mandatory meeting at work – an hours drive each way – and then picking up
kiddos from school and racing to eye doctor
before they close at 3:30.
After all of that our evening will be pretty
mundane with only homework and regular housework to get done.
I take that back – there
is the third grade ‘market day’ project to finish up and that entails the making of 100
homemade lollipops.
I’ve known today’s schedule for a while seeing as the
different events of our lives begin layering themselves onto the calendar weeks
in advance.
It requires a certain choreography to accomplish everything without
forgetting something at home or missing an appointment.
To some it may seem
that we live in a frenzy but I would not have it any other way.
We are LIVING and
that is truly a blessing.
I hear sweet baby babbling on the baby monitor, signaling me
to go upstairs where I will be greeted by the most beautiful smile and sweet baby
hugs.
I wouldn’t trade today for any other day, and I will say the same for
tomorrow.
*****
a lot of mornings around here don't go quite that smoothly.
there is the occassional squabble over someone "using up all the hot water in the shower" and then there's moments when there's no-milk-left-in-the-house-for-breakfast.
lately since the baby is walking it's like a giant pinball machine around here with everyone dodging and weaving to avoid tripping over the weeble wobble that's no doubt chasing the cat or in to the dog's food bowl.
it's mornings like that when i would like to hit REWIND or just go back to bed for another hour or two. but i can't. who can?
lately whenever mornings around here start to get shaky and i feel the chaos revving up i stop and repeat to myself:
have an attitude of gratitude.
it's helped me to take a pause and see in the moment all the GOOD that i'm missing by letting the little things get in my way.
looking back in my journal also reassures me that not every morning has to be or is a race.
a hefty dose of humor goes a long way too.
in these cold, dark midwestern winter months it is especially hard to kickstart my mornings, but with persistance i know that living life IN gratitude will help me.
what do you do when your house is abuzz and total bedlam?
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