Lovely Little Things, 31

I’ve had some dark days, recently. Maybe you could tell. (Didn’t think I’d have enough to link every word of that sentence but, well, there ya have it). I’ve said it here often: I know that you know that tantrums and tears and major meltdowns mark the spaces between the sweet and lovely moments I so often share. So I want to state the obvious reverse as well. Laughter and joy and smiles do brighten up even the darkest of days. No one day is all sweet and lovely just as no one day is all dark and gloomy. That’s not motherhood, that’s just life. Sometimes we get a string of darker days, the ones that really test us and our resolve to live the life we want, chase the dreams we dream, and go all in. Those days are oh so hard and it can feel as though they may break you. But, through it all, there are always lovely little things.

lovely little fall window stickies that she’s been begging to put up for weeks

friends

I checked my email at that particular time because I needed a break. A moment. We’d been hitting the speech work so hard for at least an hour and we both needed me to be out of his face. When I saw her name, I clicked immediately. It sort of didn’t matter much what her email would be about, I knew it would give me something I needed – a quick question about something completely unrelated to what I’d been battling all morning or an invitation to a playdate later in the afternoon – something to distract me. But it wasn’t either of those things. In a few short paragraphs she described to me exactly how I’d been feeling. Stressed, overwhelmed, alone. Self-critical. Completely to blame. She used every word that I would have used, had I gotten to the point of being able to try to put words to the cloud above my head. Without having seen me in days, she knew where I was. She knew what to say. She knew to reach out. There are not enough words in the world to express gratitude for friends who lift you up when you’re falling.

funny stories

On Wednesday, I drove my son to an allergy appointment. The morning had been rather hectic and so we left late. By the time we got there, late, he had taken off both his shoes and tossed them around the backseat of the car. I grabbed him, the packet of paperwork that by some miracle I had already filled out, and the bag of toys I had gathered for what promised to be a rather long appointment, and rushed inside to find out… that I was exactly a month early. Our appointment was for October 10 at 10am, not September 10 at 10am. The receptionist could not have been sweeter, almost acting as if it were her fault that I was standing there, in her waiting room, a month early and on a day when the doctor wasn’t even at that office. But as she double checked for me, I nearly lost it over feeling as though I had lost it. We have had so many appointments lately, so much paperwork, so much to keep track of but this seemed like the last straw of my sanity breaking into pieces. On the way home, I called a friend and the conversation went something like this:

friend: “How are you?”

me: “Well, I’ve been better. I just showed up exactly a month early for an allergy appointment.”

There was a pause. And then she broke into laughter.

friend: “I’m sorry but you have to admit, that is pretty funny!”

And she was right. I did admit. It was funny. Not a sign that I’ll soon be a heap of broken pieces. Just a very funny story that’s still making me giggle.

new inspiration and knowledge

Last weekend, I attended Women Get Social. On the ride home, I made a giant to-do list of all of the things I should do with the inspiration and information that some really inspiring and well-informed speakers had shared. I’ve been slowly working my way through this list all week and have already seen some changes for the better. I’ve been to two conferences this year and can honestly say that each one has had an undeniably positive impact on my work. So, where are you all headed next year?

favorite words