Moment

“The days are long but the years are short.”

I’ve had a rough week. There have been too many moments of busyness, frustration, and sadness that have seemed to outweigh the joyful ones.

My 20-month-old is finally cutting her canine teeth. And she has some sort of cold/sore throat that makes her whine all. day. long. and not sleep well.

My 6-year-old has been Student of the Week in her class, and each day she has needed to bring in something such as her favorite book, 3 items that describe her, and a letter to the class from her parents all about her. Every morning, 6:15am has been a scramble.

And it all culminated last night, when my 8-year-old’s model of Dobby that she made out of clay broke into pieces when I picked it up. Yes, I broke her project last night. It’s due today.

I actually sank to my knees and started crying, feeling like a horrible parent. How could I let my own procrastination get in the way of my kids’ school success? They’re only in 1st and 3rd grades — what will the coming years be like?!?

My husband — bless him — gently asked me to start making dinner, while he took the cranky toddler downstairs and talked with the sobbing 8-year-old. After we enjoyed a perfect grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup, I actually had a church meeting to go to. When I returned two and a half hours later, the 8-year-old was still up, and she and her dad were putting the finishing touches on a new, life-sized Dobby.

My heart about burst with appreciation and thankfulness. And I knew in that moment — THIS was the moment I wanted to remember out of this situation. Not the moment when the clay and my heart shattered. This one.

When we look at an individual moment or even an entire day, most of the time it can seem like the sky is falling. Woe is me. My life sucks. I’m a horrible parent. But if we can zoom out, look at a whole week or month or even year, the overall picture isn’t really that bad.

Yes my 20-month-old has been whiny and clingy, but I rocked her back to sleep after a rough nap the other day. I won’t be able to snuggle her like that much longer.

Yes we haven’t been very prepared for my 6-year-old’s special week at school, but boy was it fun to write that letter to her class (at 7am on the morning it needed to be emailed to her teacher), describing her beautiful heart.

Yes I broke my 8-year-old’s project the night before it was due. But she and her dad had the chance to work together on a new one, and when I tucked her into bed last night — an hour and a half past her usual bedtime — I apologized again for breaking her project. Her response? “It’s okay mom. This one’s better.”

In big moments or small — choose to be grateful for each one. Even if it takes a few days after the hard moment to see the good in it.

And don’t procrastinate on elementary school projects. 😉

Yes this post took longer than 5 minutes to write. Oh well. 🙂

31Days of Five Minute Free Writes is a participation in Write31Days, which takes place every October. See the rest of my craft-practicing posts linked up here. 

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