Things are busy around here. Granted, not as busy as they'll be next year, but busy nonetheless. None of my kids wanted to be something for Halloween that I could just go buy a costume for, so on top of normal home/kid stuff, I've got Halloween costumes to make, homework to do, tests to study for, and volleyball practice and games to fit into the schedule.
Yesterday was long. Its Keilana's week for dishes, and since she had a volleyball game from 5-6, we didn't eat dinner until almost 7 (my kids are usually in bed by 7:30), and she was so very, very grumpy that before we even ate dinner, I had threatened to send her to bed--hungry. When she looked at me with her big pathetic eyes as we finished dinner and asked, "Do I have to do dishes tonight?" I just couldn't. We were both so tired, I knew one or both of us would end up yelling, and possibly crying, so I told her to just help me finish rinsing and stacking them and we'd do them in the morning.
Well, I ended up getting a headache not long before I went to bed last night, and it lasted all night. I finally got up at 6 and took some medicine, and it still didn't go away. It was a grumpy morning. Chores didn't get done. I was exhausted and still in pain, and kids needed to get to school. Probably wouldn't be a big deal, but far too often, various kids' chores don't get done because I'm not on top of things. I was feeling really lousy when I drove Dylan to school, "Dropped the ball again, chica, good goin'".
Suddenly, as I was sitting there mentally beating myself up, Elder Scott's remark from this last conference popped into my head, "When the Lord speaks of weakness, it is always with mercy." All the things I got done--and that the kids got done because of or with me--yesterday started flooding my mind. I finished two tutus and two minion shirts, two creature power gloves, and fed everybody a healthy lunch. I loaded up the van completely full (including some mattresses--because we got a second set of bunkbeds, with mattresses! Yay!) and dropped a bunch of stuff at the thrift store and a bunch of stuff at the post office, and then went to the laundromat (our washer is on the fritz at the moment) and washed, dried and folded six loads of laundry, working on homework or costume stuff the whole time. Then I went home, rinsed some dishes and made a list of a few things I needed for dinner, picked up the older kids and made a quick store stop, then went home in time to get Kylie off the bus and get as much of dinner prepared as I could before leaving for Keilana's game, while simultaneously getting kids to clean the family room. After the game, I finished dinner, fed everyone, helped Keilana clean up the table and got the little girls in their PJs, read everyone a story, put them to bed, and then went downstairs and spent the rest of the evening cutting out pattern pieces for Keilana's costume. I was too tired to deal with my tired daughter doing the dishes.
And I was in too much pain to deal with making her do it this morning--in fact, I completely forgot.
But I had let that failure make me forget everything I did succeed in accomplishing. As I relived the day in my mind, I heard a little whisper: "Up until the last 10 minutes of the day, you did all of that patiently, happily and efficiently. Yesterday is done. Today can be just as good, or better."
Too often I let a rough start or a rough end have too much control over how I feel about an entire day. At exactly the moment I needed it, I felt that bit of love and patience that I needed to face my day a little differently. I'm thankful for that today.
And I'm thankful that about that time, the Excederin kicked in, too.
Yesterday was long. Its Keilana's week for dishes, and since she had a volleyball game from 5-6, we didn't eat dinner until almost 7 (my kids are usually in bed by 7:30), and she was so very, very grumpy that before we even ate dinner, I had threatened to send her to bed--hungry. When she looked at me with her big pathetic eyes as we finished dinner and asked, "Do I have to do dishes tonight?" I just couldn't. We were both so tired, I knew one or both of us would end up yelling, and possibly crying, so I told her to just help me finish rinsing and stacking them and we'd do them in the morning.
Well, I ended up getting a headache not long before I went to bed last night, and it lasted all night. I finally got up at 6 and took some medicine, and it still didn't go away. It was a grumpy morning. Chores didn't get done. I was exhausted and still in pain, and kids needed to get to school. Probably wouldn't be a big deal, but far too often, various kids' chores don't get done because I'm not on top of things. I was feeling really lousy when I drove Dylan to school, "Dropped the ball again, chica, good goin'".
Suddenly, as I was sitting there mentally beating myself up, Elder Scott's remark from this last conference popped into my head, "When the Lord speaks of weakness, it is always with mercy." All the things I got done--and that the kids got done because of or with me--yesterday started flooding my mind. I finished two tutus and two minion shirts, two creature power gloves, and fed everybody a healthy lunch. I loaded up the van completely full (including some mattresses--because we got a second set of bunkbeds, with mattresses! Yay!) and dropped a bunch of stuff at the thrift store and a bunch of stuff at the post office, and then went to the laundromat (our washer is on the fritz at the moment) and washed, dried and folded six loads of laundry, working on homework or costume stuff the whole time. Then I went home, rinsed some dishes and made a list of a few things I needed for dinner, picked up the older kids and made a quick store stop, then went home in time to get Kylie off the bus and get as much of dinner prepared as I could before leaving for Keilana's game, while simultaneously getting kids to clean the family room. After the game, I finished dinner, fed everyone, helped Keilana clean up the table and got the little girls in their PJs, read everyone a story, put them to bed, and then went downstairs and spent the rest of the evening cutting out pattern pieces for Keilana's costume. I was too tired to deal with my tired daughter doing the dishes.
And I was in too much pain to deal with making her do it this morning--in fact, I completely forgot.
But I had let that failure make me forget everything I did succeed in accomplishing. As I relived the day in my mind, I heard a little whisper: "Up until the last 10 minutes of the day, you did all of that patiently, happily and efficiently. Yesterday is done. Today can be just as good, or better."
Too often I let a rough start or a rough end have too much control over how I feel about an entire day. At exactly the moment I needed it, I felt that bit of love and patience that I needed to face my day a little differently. I'm thankful for that today.
And I'm thankful that about that time, the Excederin kicked in, too.
1 comment:
Yes you are pretty dang efficient! What you do in an hour takes me a week! Good job momma!
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