For all of my fellow Canadian friends, we're approaching our Thanksgiving weekend today and with that I thought it would be fitting to share a few words on thankfulness. Earlier this week I was doing anything but giving thanks. Let me explain.
On Tuesday I had to take a trip into the city with my two daughters in order to get fall clothes for my youngest (unfortunately they were born in opposite months so the poor little dear has nothing but summer clothes to adorn herself in in this chilly weather...not cool..well cool literally but not slang-ly speaking..and no I'm fairly certain that is not a word but I went there anyway's, you'll just have to deal with that) ;) Sooo, where was I? Ah yes, shopping. I'm not sure if you've ever shopped with a 4 year old girl and a 9 month old, but if you haven't let me just shatter any dreams you have of this being a wonderfully fun experience to say that it's not...try more so pulling-my-hair-out-stressful. Add in the factors that the 9 month old is very busy and not a fan of strollers; we are not shopping for the 4 year old who looooves clothes as much as her mom, and on that note, the fact that we're not shopping for the desperately-shopping-starved, outdated attired mama, and mix in a mama who is a high C (DISC profile test) meaning she needs to see all of her options first, assess and very carefully chose the best deal before purchasing...blend that all up and you have a recipe for disaster. I am however pleased to say that we made it out without tears.
Where things got really messy, was when we arrived home. I had left myself enough time to unload our purchases and change a diaper before we had to go to the bus stop to pick up my son. Well, I know you likely won't believe me, but things don't always go according to plan with children. My older daughter, who normally only plays outside with her brother, wouldn't come in the house with me. Being in the rush that I was in however, I decided she would be okay and I'd head in to quickly change my other daughter's diaper before heading to the bus stop. Everything was going just dandy until I began to hear these horrific screams coming from outside, it only took me seconds to realize that it was my older daughter Quinn. I quickly wrapped up the diaper change, scooped Lucy up and ran outside to find my neighbour on my lawn reassuring me that another neighbours' dog had startled her but that all was well and Quinn was in the backyard now. Across the road was another neighbour holding said dog, and when I reached my back porch, yet another neighbour was reassuring my daughter. Quinn screams like crazy if a dog get's too close to her, whether it's a teacup poodle or a black lab; this dog was no different, he was just wanting to play, but the poor thing picked the wrong child to initiate with. Not wanting to be insensitive to Quinn I calmed her down, helped her with her shoes that had came off in the craziness and hurried her along as best I could to get to the bus stop in time, which I knew was cutting it very close at this point. Long story short, I didn't get to the bus stop in time, but was glad to find out from another neighbour girl that my son stayed on the bus and the bus driver would be checking for us when she swung by our house again (it goes by our place twice fortunately after our bus stop). Sure enough, the bus came around and my son emerged safe and sound.
Talk about an epic fail for me though; by that point I was feeling like the worst parent alive as I thought about how I'm sure the other mom's at my bus stop could hear my daughter's screams and saw me missing at the bus stop, and then the fact that not just one, but 3 of my neighbours all came to my daughter's aide before I arrived on the scene. :( Ugh, fail indeed. I'll come back to that I promise, but let's move onto Wednesday and Thursday.
So on Wednesday I opened the diaper bag to find a ring with a tag on it that I did not purchase, but I recalled my daughter playing with and asking for, laying atop everything. Noooo!!! Now if you live in the city, this isn't a big deal, but for me it's a 45 minute drive, which means it's a huge inconvenience. At first I thought, I'll just take it back on a day that I've only got Lucy with me, but then the responsible side of me kicked in and I knew I had to do another day trip with both girls so that a lesson could be learned here. So yesterday, back we went with two daughters and ring in tow to say our apologies and make things right.
Now I say all of this to say that there were many points throughout this week where unfortunately I was anything but thankful, and was even downright miserable. I didn't feel like there was much to be grateful for, and I didn't want to think about it even...I was feeling like..."don't try to make me feel better..just let me wallow in this". Yes, sad and quite pathetic, I know. But here's the ray of light in all of this: things could have been much worse and I could have missed a lot if I kept my head in the sand. I realized that I could have beat myself up over my shortcomings on Tuesday, or I could be grateful that I have many amazing neighbours who care about my children, and other amazing neighbours whom I've yet to meet but who send lovely apology notes for their stray dog when they could have blamed me for not being outside. I realized that I could have considered the two trips to the city as wasted, stressful days, which would have made my daughter feel like a failure, or I could choose to see it as a wonderful learning opportunity to teach my daughter about the importance of integrity and honesty, and that a mistake doesn't make you a failure.
Although this week had it's up's and down's and several inconveniences along the way, I am thankful for the things that I learned as without these experiences I wouldn't have had the opportunities to find the blessings that can sometimes be hidden or taken for granted. I challenge you today, regardless of what you find yourself facing; to look for the hidden treasure in your circumstance.
In this with you,
Crystal
