Little Reminders

Five minutes ago, I was standing in my kitchen shoving barbecue potato chips in my face (having just raided my pantry of the snacks I bought on sale in case of "an emergency someday").  My husband looked up from emptying the dishwasher and chuckled, "I can tell when you are stressed."  Me?  Stressed?  Noooooooooo.  (Crunch, crunch.)

I just deleted five sentences about that stress.  Because even as I wrote those sentences, I realized that while the little things do add up, and the feeling of a loss of control can bring anyone to her knees at times, my problems are minimal compared to what others are dealing with right now.  I think it is human nature to have an inflated sense of self every now and then, to be confined in our own personal universes in which things seem overly important.  And the need to dwell on those things is very real at times.  We all have a breaking point.

But my reason for writing tonight isn't to dwell on the negative.  My reason is to stop and collect before I get to that breaking point.  My reason is to remind myself that I need to look beyond the negative for all of those things that I love about life.  Sometimes those things are right there, and it just takes a little rubbing of the eyes to refocus on the important stuff.  Despite certain things that make it difficult at times, and certain moments that I would rather do without, this is life. And I really do love it.

Let the refocusing begin.

Today, I love it because my kids make me laugh, and they've managed to do that often lately.  Like this afternoon, when, after reading a Dr. Seuss book in which Hooper is called a party pooper, Cortlan told me,  "I only poop in the potty when I am at a party."  Thank goodness!  Wouldn't want that kind of party pooper in my family.

And Monday, on our first Grandma Day of the school year (LOVE Grandma Days!), Cortlan decreed to both of his Grandmas, "There will be no time-outs when Grandmas are here."  I got that story from my mom, and laughed at his apparent boldness and sense of authority.  And I laughed again when I got off of the phone and told him that I got the scoop from Grandma about the day.  His concerned, yet hopeful, response:  "Was it an ice cream scoop?"

And Everly has made me laugh, too.  A neighbor gave her a tattoo yesterday - you know, the kind that you put on your hand, put a wet paper towel on, gently remove the paper backing, and voila! A snazzy dinosaur!  Then - tears.  Then a rough communication that brings to light the issue:  what she really wanted was the paper backing and wet paper towel on her hand.  So, she walked around holding said paper and towel on her hand for over an hour, fussing each time it fell off until it was put back on.  I couldn't help but laugh.  It took the removal of the dinosaur for her to give up the paper and towel accessories at bath time.  Lesson learned.

And it's not just the laughter that I love.

I love how this morning, when I gently woke Cortlan up by saying, "Good morning, buddy-bud!" the response I got was, "Good morning, Mommy!"

I love how good Everly is getting at giving hugs.  And how she pushes her nose against mine and just holds it there smiling when she is trying to be especially affectionate.

I love that now that I am thinking about it, I realize that I could fill the pages of the things that I love in my life. 

Mission Refocus: Begun with success.

What do you love?