This has been a somewhat difficult week for no particular reason. Just small stresses adding up, and worrying about possible larger stresses, and feeling stuck. But I started this blog to remind myself to look for the bright and beautiful, so here's some brightness I see when I take the time to pay attention:
1. Dance parties! We used to do this quite regularly as a family, but had let the tradition lapse for some reason. Now we've brought it back, and at least every other night you can find us dancing crazily in our living room to tunes ranging from Justin Bieber to Lady Gaga. I think My Man would love to be a DJ in another life, so he's in charge of the music, but both kids clamor for Justin B. now ("I want to marry Justin Bieber!"). Even Younger One tries to sing along (mostly by singing the "Oh"s in "Baby"). Dance parties are good exercise and good way to blow off steam. And private - so no one is too appalled at my lack of rhythm :). And the kids are hilarious, each with their own dance moves.
2. Potty-training success! I think this is my least-favorite part of being a parent, but the training is a little easier the second time around. I still dislike it, but I'm not as stressed about it. And Younger One is just easier than Elder One. Anyone who says girls are easier to train than boys never met our Bright One!
3. Renewed crafting energy. I tend to make things in spurts, and I'm never very prolific, but when I get some ideas and inspiration, I get crazy excited about it. Bright One has a birthday coming up so now I have some ideas for a couple of things to make for her special day (for at least one of those things, there's a good chance I'll completely screw it up, but I'm going to try!). And I also just finished a sweet, simple nightgown for her. She doesn't want to sleep in pajamas - only nightgowns. But we only had one! And it was getting rather ratty and too small. So I found a great online tutorial for a super easy nightgown and decided to try it out. I think it turned out pretty well. Pictures later.
4. Children who play together. Younger One is old enough now that Elder One can play with him some. There's often more squabbling than playing, but recently they've had some longish sessions of playing together nicely. That's a lovely gift for me and for them.
5. A job that allows me some freedom. I'll admit that sometimes I have a hard time being thankful for my job. Not because it's a bad job but because it's not exactly what I dreamed about doing. But the hours work for our family; the people I work with are nice; having a job allows us to pay the bills; and my job is very unstressful. Each of these points is really a huge blessing when I think about it. It's a lot more than many people have. And on top of that, I have some free time in my job, so I'm able to do a number of personal things on the job. Let me be clear - I'm not skimping on my job duties. I get my work done, but part of my job is just to be there when needed, so when I'm not needed, it's OK for me to work on personal things. Which is nice, and means I don't need to get on the computer much at home.
6. A free day, and a nap! Today we had a whole day without any specific plans. So we went to Mill Mountain Zoo (not a very impressive zoo, but it has a train!) this morning and then spent the afternoon with my in-laws, where I was able to take a nap on the couch! I don't remember the last time I did that. Or the last time I really needed it, but last night I stayed up 'til 11:30 working on above-mentioned nightgown, and then Bright One woke me up at 5:30. 5:30!!! So the nap was a particularly lovely blessing today.
And there have been other bright spots to the week, but I'll stop there for now. It's been a good reminder about what's important.
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