Thankfulness

I have been in a bit of a funk lately, and today I am emerging. Why was I gloomy? Well, lots of little things. Taxes, job security worries, getting a cold, Norah getting a old, the house being a disaster, and on and on. Nothing special, I've realized. No more than anyone else on the planet. And certainly a lot less to worry about than most of the planet. So I've decided to suck it up.

First, I am thankful for my family. My 15-month old daughter woke up at 3:30 am. I was tired. So, so tired. I rocked her for a while and tried to put her down. No dice. I took her out to the couch to snuggle down, hoping desperately that she'd fall back asleep quickly as I had to get up in 2 hours, and she cooed quietly and touched my face. I'm pretty lucky.

My husband might have left his socks in the living room last night, but he also decided to take me to one of my favorite musicals playing at the Ordway (South Pacific) in a few weeks to celebrate our anniversary. Not only did he come up with that all on his own, but he also thought we should go to this quirky, cool cafe we went to when we were dating 14 years ago. Pretty cool.

My mom and sister watched Norah for a couple hours on Sunday while I met with my book club. I came home to a spotless, dirty-dish-free kitchen. I am not a cliche person, but I really felt as if something heavy had been lifted from my chest, or an Eeyore-type cloud over my head dissipated.  They could have easily just read books or watched movies and relaxed while Norah napped, but they did something for me.

And I'm thankful for my dad. He's a do-er. Evil neighbors push me to the brink? Dad builds a fence that afternoon. I buy a new washing machine? Dad is there to install, no questions asked. Leaky roof? He and Ryan head to Menards, buy shingles, and he spends his entire weekend off roofing my house while I was seven months pregnant. Amazing.

Even my mother-in-law is helpful. I am the first one to roll my eyes when she talks about how Norah is ready for potty training at 15 months (seriously), but that's pretty minor if I'm honest with myself. I really should be looking at the times she offered to take Norah with 30 seconds notice when we both had the stomach flu, or when she would happily give me a ride home from teaching at night when we only had one car.

I'm pretty damn lucky. I'm not promising that I'll quit bitching about things all together, but I will be better at reminding myself of how good we have it. Next time I think about how tired I am, I'll be thankful I have a bed at all. Next time I grumble about how busy it is at work, I'll be thankful I have a job. Next time I get down about my weight, I'll be happy I have food for my family and the extra dough to buy Little Debbies if I so choose to. Next time Norah has explosive diarrhea, I will be thankful for the invention of disposable diapers and wipes.