Ten Things of Thankful #2 – In Light Of Frustrations and Meltdowns

The week has flown by as waves of stress and anxiety swept over the house. I had to check to see if there was a full moon this week – I’m not a believer in all that woo woo, but given the emotional rollercoaster the kids were riding, it wouldn’t have surprised me.

Instead, I’ve been dosing myself with calming essential oils, given that I’m still on this infernal diet and I can’t have a Tito’s and tonic after dinner. At least I smell lovely!

It’s been a week of looking for things for which to be thankful.

First and foremost, as many friends spent the week trapped at home with snow and school cancellations, I’m thankful for the lovely Texas weather. We sat in the patio of a local restaurant on Saturday evening. In January.  I couldn’t be happier.

I’m also very grateful for over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, because with the warmer weather came a  surge in pollen. Asthma and allergies, you won’t hold me down!

I went to Costco and stocked up on fresh, out-of-season berries and lemons and limes. I only have about five days of the 24-day challenge left, and Lord-have-mercy I cannot drink any more plain water. Some days it’s the little things that save me.

I took a poke around a local craft mall one morning after going to the gym and found this shirt, which I love – although not everyone in my family shared the sentiment.

I think I need to write about this more tomorrow.

Patience is sorely lacking in ALL the members of my family, but I’ve been practicing compassion when my kids go inexplicably ballistic. Hormones? Kids picking on them? Fights with friends? Socks don’t feel right? Panties in a bunch (yes, literally – hers are apparently getting too tight. Hello, growth spurt.)

But. Bad days may be the cause of snark and rolled eyeballs and slamming doors, but that doesn’t mean that being rude is excusable. I’ve been pushed to the limit this week and left speechless more than once.

Needless to say, I’ve done a lot of deep breaths and counting to ten, and trying to put myself in their shoes, yada yada.  It seems to be working to some extent because sometime after the meltdowns I’m getting a hug and a heartfelt and humble apology from the offender. I’m thankful for pulling off being an adult. Go, mom!

The anxiety flag is flying high. HIGH. I’m doing my best to help everyone through their emotional turmoil that I’m getting stressed myself and overanalyzing everything: “did I handle that well? Am I giving in? Am I not giving enough?” and ended up so stressed that at that lovely dinner on the patio I broke down and ordered a pear grapefruit collins – my first cheat of alcohol since I started the challenge some 19 days earlier. And you know what? I didn’t beat myself up over that fail, too, so I feel pretty good. I’m thankful for self-forgiveness.

This weekend, we took in some old fashioned family fun and watched the Harlem Globetrotters “play”.  It offered up some well-needed laughter, as corny as it was, and I’m grateful for simple time together before the spring sports season kicks off and weekends turn into a juggling act.

When my daughter arrived home from school on Friday, I found two friends from outside the normal group of girls that she plays with dropping their bags and tossing off shoes next to hers. They rushed upstairs and the house was filled with the sound of giggling girls (as they dug into Miss M’s dance recital makeup and liberally applied it. Tammy Faye has nothing on a 9-year-old girl.)  The fact that my daughter does a better cat-eye than I do did not go unnoticed, either…

Given the homesickness she’s felt lately brought about by the realization that yes, this IS our home now and we aren’t going back, the laughter was such a comfort to me that, yes, she’s going to be just fine.

I’m thankful to be wrapping up January, as it’s been a rough start to the new year, and I’m looking forward to another fresh start in February.

Lastly, I’m thankful for restful sleep and that the pup knows this, so wakes up the Hubs multiple times a night instead! (I may be even more thankful that she wakes him and not me.) I stay up far too late and get too little sleep, so I started out the week getting to bed early, and wow, I need to “let” myself do that more often. I’m finally figuring out that no matter how short the list, I never get to everything on it and yet the world DOESN’T come to an end! Imagine that! So yay, sleep!

And with that, I’m going to wrap this up and head off to bed myself.