I admit it....I was in an irritated mood last night. Can't really pin point why. I was just irritated and not very patient with Lindsay or Jerry :). I was feeling like I wanted some "me" time. I think we all have felt that way sometimes, that somedays you just need a little more. Or, that we all have that irritated feeling sometimes and don't know why.
I was enjoying a glass of wine after dinner when I realized that Lindsay hadn't had her shower yet. Just getting relaxed and having to get up and give her a shower wasn't something I was excited about. Jerry and I work as a team and thank goodness for that, but there are just some things a mom's gotta do. Lindsay wasn't very thrilled with having to get up and get showered either, so we were quite a pair!
Bedtime rolled around and I felt like I just wanted to snap my fingers and have it all done. Or wiggle my nose like Samantha in "Bewitched" and poof...everyone is ready for bed! We started a new routine of reading in bed vs. watching TV before bedtime. It has been working great as we all become more relaxed by not listening to the news! I am usually the reader and reading last night wasn't something I felt like doing. But as the pages turned, so did my mood. It's a miracle....changing your focus does make a difference!
Time for bed and Lindsay's routine started... getting Grr a drink of water, getting her pair of socks to wear to bed, getting the doTerra oil to rub on her feet, etc. Then her mood changed! "I don't want to go to homework" (aka day program), "I want to call Bobby" (her brother), "Call mom" (grandmas),
"go to the store", "put, put on" (paint her nails), "put, put on" also means, where is my band-aid? It was as though she was feeling like I did earlier except she wanted more "us" time.
As you may have seen in a previous blog, band-aids are a big thing in our house. Our supply is usually abundant and is hidden all over the house. We need to ration them, for obvious reasons, that is why they are hidden. I had cut my finger a few days ago and had gone through our last box and so there weren't any band-aids to give her, which didn't make her happy. We were at the point of letting her stay up with the tv on when I thought I would make a last ditch effort to find a band aid.
If you were a fly on the wall, I am sure it was comical watching me go through all of our hiding places we have used! It's a miracle! I found a box of band-aids in a place we forgot! And they were Bugs Bunny ones too! I walked in to her room and I wish you could have seen her face! She widened her eyes and excitedly said, "You go to the store?!!" Like I had magically went to buy more, performed a miracle and wha la....all was good with the world! She gave me a huge hug and a long one! Her focus changed and she was happy to go to bed, thanked me for "going to the store". My focused changed, I was happy that she was so happy I went "to the store"! Plus her reaction was just so darned cute! Immediately, the way she was fighting going to bed, stopped with a change of focus.....a band-aid!
I guess a lesson I was reminded of last night was that no matter what the reason for your bad mood, and you may not know the reason, that you have control and can change your mood. I need to remember to take some of "my own medicine" and be grateful for the little things, like Lindsay. To be grateful I can sit down after dinner and enjoy a glass of wine, that I can "go to the store" for more band-aids, that I can see to read. All may seem like little things but it works! We sometimes forget to take a moment and realize how fortunate we are. A reason why I started another Photo Project 365 this year showcasing gratitude thoughts. Taking an inventory of our daily little blessings, helps.
I was also reminded to buy more Band-aids, because they are a miracle, to Lindsay and if I think about it....they are to us too!
