Stop And Smell The Cherry Chapstick!
Ok, I have to admit, some days I wake up and completely just dread the day to come!!! Judge me if you will, but if you knew how some of our days have gone you would totally understand.
You see, our days are very unpredictable. Some days we have been dealing with hour long meltdowns that include hitting and kicking and throwing things. Mix that with the screaming and name calling and it would put most people on edge. So sometimes I just don’t get overly excited for the day.
I will pray and get things ready for the day. Always in the back of my mind just hoping I can hold it together to get both boys off to school. I get them off to school and I just sit and watch the phone waiting for the school to call. So that leaves me not getting much done. ( Add that to my list of anxiety and guilt)!
But, some days that phone doesn’t ring! I go to pick our oldest up from the bus and he hands me his daily progress sheet. He has all stickers! He had a good day!
He is so proud of himself! He tells me over and over to look at his report. I can see the excitement in his face. He looks at me and asks if I am proud of him. I tell him "Baby, I am always proud of you". And I turn around with tears in my eyes.
He is excited because now he knows he gets a reward. Don't all kids work for a bribe? So he heads off to the store with daddy and I have a minute to breathe and try to calm my anxiety until the youngest gets home. Our house will then turn into a WWE ring and my anxiety will spike again!
They return home from the store and our son is so proud of his reward. He shows me his chapstick! You would have thought we gave him a new puppy. He carried that stuff around like a prized possession. He felt so grown up keeping it in his pocket. He lathered that stuff on all night.
So we have our usual stress filled night with two boys that are 22 months apart in age. The wrestling, the fighting, the screaming, and oh the fighting.... Finally IT IS BEDTIME!!!
We spend, what feels like hours getting the boys ready for bed, with the constant redirection and empty threats of taking everything away.
I lay down with our oldest son until he falls asleep. As he drifts off to sleep I take a deep breath and all I can smell is cherry. I realize he lathered half his face in chapstick before he went to bed. All I could do was smile and try not to laugh. And I remember that this is what it is about.
In this life, it is all about handling things one day at a time. And I may start some of my days with complete anxiety for the day, but I end every single day grateful and feeling completely blessed. Even on those really bad days. And when I need a reminder I just take a smell of cherry chapstick and it always makes me smile!
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