One of my goals for this year is to devote at least a bit of time every night to filling myself back up.
Fewer late-night sessions packing lunches and filling out kindergarten registration forms (oh wait, I did that on Sunday night) or binge-watching Downtown Abbey Season 5 (uh…did that last night!).
Clearly, I’ve got some work to do, but it’s only February. Hopefully I’ll have it down by the end of 2015. 🙂
Writing in a gratitude journal? That one is big. Contemplative, spiritual, restorative—it checks all of my self-care boxes. 🙂
Whether you keep one or not, I hope reading this simple list helps you look at your surroundings with a fuller heart today.
10 Simple, Easy-to-Miss Pleasures of Home Life
1. Color-coordinated fruit, clothes, books—anything. Happy, happy.
2. Inexpensive daffodils in the spring.
3. The funny things kids say and do.
4. The relief you feel when your child has lost their special, precious random object and has recruited your help looking for it—and it magically turns up before any drama ensues. Sweet relief!
5. The moment when your kids are so lost in imaginative play that they forget about everything else. (Including your instructions to clean their room.) 🙂
6. The way the air smells first thing in the morning when you leave the house.
7. The sound of your husband rolling in the trash bins on his way in from work.
8. The soft pinkish blue of the sky when you open your shades first thing in the morning or when you stand at the kitchen sink that evening.
9. The way your child bars his teeth and wiggles around while you move a toothbrush around those chompers.
10. How warm the bed is in those moments after you first wake up, right before you have to get out of bed.
No post on gratitude would be complete without the monkeys who fill up my heart (and wear out my body!) every day.
What little things have you been grateful for lately?
I can’t believe how big your daughter is! Look at all of that hair! Love the colorful fruit pic too. We survived another trip to target, and even though it involved marshmallows and screaming, I’m still thankful to be able to shop so easily and have so many products and food available to us. And I feel gratitude that I have a whole week until I have to go there again.
Ha! Yes. I’m heading to walmart this morning with two of the kiddos. Oh help. But I like your perspective. 🙂
And thanks – Quinn is growing so fast! She’ll be two next month! Hard to believe…
Oh, seeing how big Quinn is makes me sad! I have missed her babyhood (and toddlerhood) completely! Miss you all! Cheers to simple, everyday pleasures.
I know! It makes me sad too!!! Thanks for noticing her growth, and we miss you guys! I need to see more pics of Miss Clara!
Great pics, Erica!
Flowers can be so inexpensive but add such a nice touch to the home!
I love it too when my kids are so absorbed with their play. Lets me be a bit more hands off and get things done lol.
Its the little things. Love those pictures of the kids!