Lovely little things, 15

You know your gratitude practice is working when… you have a just plain awful week and still, at the end of it, when you sit down to uncover your blessings, you are still bubbling over.

Gratitude practice evangelists will tell you this. And it seems to good to be true. That by simply acknowledging and appreciating your many blessings, you will acknowledge and appreciate even more. It feels like a jedi mind trick. It really does.

But it’s true.

This (awful) week’s lovely little things…

the zoo

I once had a conversation with a friend, who is also a mamma, about the zoo. About how it’s easy to hate ’em. When you’re young, as in high school or college or young adulthood and you begin to learn what the zoo means for those animals. The captivity. The not-so-natural habitats. And the not-so-human practices in some places.

And then, you have kids.

And you want your kids to experience it all. To know it all and grow from it all. And so you want them to see how big an elephant really is. And what it really smells like to stand near one. And you want them to know that a llama is a real animal, not just a cozy, mama-lovin creature in red pajamas.

And so you go to the zoo. And you kinda love it too.

*we are fortunate to live within a short drive of the National Zoo and feel good about how they treat their animals and about supporting them.

the baby spa croup package
Thursday morning, Miss N. texted me to tell me she had just given baby boy the ‘baby spa croup package’ and then described the warm soak in the tub, baby massage, and bottle that led to my poor, sick little guy’s early, humidified nap to soothing music.

And all I could think about was my sweet little croupy kid melting into a puddle of deep restorative sleep in his crib and how good he must have felt, despite the croup and what we later learned was an ear infection.

Find people who love your children enough to give them the baby spa croup package. And then do not ever let them leave.

big sister moments
When his fever was high and his ears were throbbing and we weren’t doing anything for him because we just had no idea, and his nose was running and his throat and chest sore, I’m sure, from coughing, and all he wanted to do was sleep but he couldn’t, she made him laugh.

mom’s night
For an introvert like me, a Thursday night during a week like this one, when I am sleep deprived and a bit extra stressed and very much up in my head, and pretty emotionally raw, is a Thursday night to stay in, hide under a blanket and wait for it all to pass.

But, instead, I went out. And for a couple hours, I sat among friends. I listened, and talked, and laughed, and tried to support and was supported in return. And this morning, I woke up feeling lighter.

favorite words this week
“Just living is not enough… one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.”
Hans Christian Anderson

Hope your weekend includes sunshine, freedom, and a lotta flower!