This has been one of those days. It started off trying to get my 2 older children off to their first day of Vacation Bible School. I dropped them off *on time*...a miracle. Then I headed to Sam's Club with my 2 little ones to grab some notebooking supplies. It was closed! Not open until 10am! I was so disappointed because I knew I wasn't going to be able to get back there today. I tried not to let it dampen my mood, and we kept going.
As we neared home, my 4 year old said that his mouth hurt. As I looked at his face in the rear view mirror, I knew the inevitable was about to happen. I pulled the van into our driveway praying he would hold on a little longer. NO! He threw up all over the van. Carsickness. Our new van. I put him in the bathtub, quickly got laundry going, hosed off the car seat, etc...I had put the baby down for his morning nap during all this chaos and thought he was asleep only to realize he had been screaming for a while? Bad mommy feelings. Feeling frustrated.
In the afternoon I managed to spill an entire glass of water all over me and the hardwood floor. I was now changing into my third outfit of the day! This means more laundry. I then had a personal disappointment with a friend...plans that we had made for this month together that were now canceled and the loneliness of life came crashing into my heart. Feeling confused and annoyed.
An hour later I managed to spill 2 cups of chicken broth down the front of me, all over the cabinets, and across the floor! No way! Feeling perplexed?!? We then had to run up to the grocery store for a couple of items and I ran over our hose sprayer and completely broke it into little pieces.
At this point, I just decided to LAUGH!!! The chronic stress of the day had been wearing me down and whittling away my joy, patience, and peace. On days like this I end up getting super crabby, irritated, and the anger level begins to rise. In the moment that I realized that I was covered in chicken broth, I thought "either I can yell or even cuss, or I can realize that my character is being cultivated by pressure and I can just go with the flow....Aimee, just LAUGH!" I began to laugh at myself, my mess, and that all of these things are just no big deal in the grand scheme of things.
Then my sister sent me this link of a baby laughing and the children and I laughed and laughed some more! It will bring you some lightness and sweetness to see the sparkly giggling of a little one. I can take myself way too seriously sometimes and have to remember in the midst of little trials that it ain't no big thang and need to learn to laugh WAY more.
If life's little irritations are poking at you, look them in the eye and laugh! Instead of losing your cool, lose your seriousness and let the laughter rip! We all need the reminder to just lighten up and enjoy the journey!
The best part of the afternoon was when I had to take my pants off after the chicken broth fiasco. I wanted to get my soup cooking, so I just continued working and chopping with just my shirt and undies on...my kids came in and laughed so hard wondering what got into mom that she was laughing and cooking half-dressed. A mama modeling laughter and lightness...just exactly where and who I want to be!
Little trials turned into character triumphs...all in a simply crazy day.
12 comments:
Thanks for the smile and giggle today, I take myself way too seriously too, and usually end up crabby and yelling too! :) Thanks!
Oh, Aimee, I am sorry for your frustrating day. I know the feeling(s), believe me.
I love your advice about lightening up and laughing. It *is* a choice, you are right. Now we just need to keep doing it again and again to make it a habit.
Praying for you, friend. :)
Love this post...doesn't it just say, "Mama said there'd be days like this?" After the day is over, it's easy to just go back and say, all these things are temporary. If they get the best of me, then how are the really important things going to affect me? Hope your soup turned out OK! I'd like the recipe to that, by the way!
What a great post!
You must have little ones for them to stay and laugh at mama cooking in her underwear! My 3 big teenage boys would run,screaming, from the kitchen if I did such a thing! LOL!!
Oh gosh, laughing is definitely the way to go on a day like this! I am cracking up that you were cooking in your undies---too funny!
I hope that today is a much better day for you, Aimee!
You paint quite a picture, Aimee! Oh, haven't we all had those days? I, too, have given up at the end of my rope at times and have just given into laughter instead of tears. Much more edifying!
Hoping you're having some better days (I just KNOW you are!) and thankfully those rough ones don't come around that often!
Thanks for sharing your day. I was listening to John Piper the other day talk about his mother. He said.."Mingled with the seriousness of Christian life, Mama had an uninhibited sense of humor. I never felt better than when Mama laughed."
I think a part of true joy is laughing in moments like that.
Yes, I love the laughter technique. I used to do this with my elementary school classroom when things got tense (yeah, I made us all laugh for two minutes.) But I sometimes forget this in my own small days. Thanks for the reminder! (Oh, and the funny vision of a mom cookin', really cookin'!)
Girl, I jus' be lovin' you! Bris
So glad you were able to laugh at your day. It really is the best choice in such a situation. The outcome is much better than walking around spewing our frustration on our family. Oh, I guess in light of your carsick little boy maybe "spewing" wasn't the best phrase to use there! ;o) Keep smiling!
What a sight that must have been! I love that you kept your sense of humor. :)
So glad you chose the laughter route...what a day and to pick laughter is such a good choice!
thanks for sharing
be blessed
Kimmie
mama to 6
one homemade and 5 adopted
*come meet us!
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