Favorite Moments Challenge

I belong to a group called Circle of Moms.  We are group of  resident wives who are mothers and we meet monthly to discuss reading assignments that teach us about different aspects of deliberate parenting.  Last month we read an article that talked about stopping to enjoy the time we spend at home with our small children, even though sometimes we might feel overly tired and overwhelmed.  Each month we are given a challenge based on the theme we studied.  Last month's challenge was to write down your favorite moment of each day for a week, in attempt to become more positive.  Here are my favorites from the week:

Sunday - I woke up to an email from American Express alerting me to a potential fraudulent charge on my card.  I went to find my card so I that I could call about what was going on and realized that my diaper bag with the wallet inside was gone! (Still not 100% sure how or from where it was stolen.)  I was very upset and spent the whole morning calling and cancelling cards and talking to the police.  To make things worse Jack was working and was unable to talk to me or help me at all.  As I made calls, I ignored my kids who had all woken up with colds and pink eye and were crying and rubbing their eyes and asking for food. When I was finally off the phone I explained to the children what had happened.  They went upstairs and each came back with something in their hands.  Hannah presented me with a sliver box filled with $7 and Jackson gave me a quarter.  Money is something that these kids hold dear and love to save, and I could sense the hesitation in Hannah's hands as she handed me the box.  But she told me I could have it, to make up for the money I had lost.  Of course I didn't keep it, but the sweet gesture really turned around my terrible morning.

Monday - Sometimes the kids dump cups of water on our fake hardwood floors and pretend to ice skate with rags on the feet.  I always ask them not to do this because one of them usually slips and gets hurt and it also leaves a big mess on the floor and could potentially ruin the floor.  On Monday night I started to chastise them for putting water on the floor again, but then the way they slid so quickly across the floor wearing nothing but their little underpants made me laugh and I let them do it for awhile longer.  They were so sweet and happy playing together.  Was inconsistent parenting on my part?  Maybe.

Tuesday - I wanted to hurry and make a stop at Trader Joe's before we picked up Hannah from preschool.  My kids love going there because they have little carts they can push.  But if I take both Jackson & Hannah with they both have to have their own cart and double-wide mini carts down the isles tends to elicit a lot of dirty looks from the other shoppers.  This was my chance to go with just Jackson.  He looked so cute with a comb-over and his little blue puffer vest.  He insisted on wearing his backpack stuffed FULL of toy cars.  It probably weighed at least 5 pounds.  He was actually semi helpful pushing his little cart carefully around the store.  The checker gave him a huge strip of stickers and he was so happy.  I love the way little things bring such joy to kids.  He rarely gets to do "big kid" things or go places without Hannah taking the lead and telling him what to do.  He talked about this shopping trip for days.

Wednesday - I decided it was time for Jackson and Hannah to share a room again so that Jane could have her own room.  She still wakes up too much crying at night to be sharing with anyone.  Hannah initially didn't want to share (Jackson tends to talk and sing for awhile before falling asleep and it drives her nuts!) but once I moved his bed in there she was so sweet to welcome him to the room.  She brought in some of his toys since there were only girl toys in there.  She helped him make his bed and gave him a big hug.  She has been so sweet lately, it makes my heart feel full.

Thursday - We went to Costco in the evening after Jack left for work.  I pushed the cart full of 3 kids and Jackson belted out, "Don't listen to a word I say, HEY!", lyrics from an Of Monsters and Men song, and made us and a few people around us giggle.  He seems to have inherited my ability to easily learn song lyrics and when he starts singing the correct words along with a song it makes all of us stop and laugh in surprise.  The kids were so good at Costco.  I feel like when I go out with the 3 kids I get stared at a lot and get comments like, "Wow, you sure have your hands full!"  (I'm not sure why, 3 children really isn't that uncommon is it?)  But they have been so good lately and I feel like I can take them all places on my own more easily now, so I don't really mind the looks and comments.

Friday - Friday was a rough day.  Jane woke up with a fever and me with my second sinus infection in 2 weeks.  Jane cried most of the day and just wanted to be held.  Jack was studying in the morning before work.  By noon I felt tired and cranky as I rocked Jane in her bedroom.  I finally got her to drift off and went to see what the kids were doing.  I found them all in the kids' bedroom underneath a tent made of sheets playing Barbies with their dad.  Jack was wearing Jackson's Cars baseball hat and dressing an Ariel Barbie doll.  I know playing Barbies is his last choice of things to do, I felt intensely grateful for him at that moment, he is such a great father even when he is very busy.

This exercise in positiveness has truly made me more grateful for my family and my role as mother and the opportunity to stay home with my children.  Instead of remembering how I had been robbed and how we were all sick for most of the week, I remember the sweet things that happened. I plan to do it more often!