Remember to Be Happy

That's what I need to do.

Because sometimes I forget.

I am not happy that my older two kids are back in school.  I miss them.

I am not happy that my older two kids are back in school and so I need to wake up in the early cold dark hours when it's only reasonable to stay in my warm bed.

I am not happy that I haven't been sleeping well.  At all.  Waaaaaaaaaaaaah.

I am not happy about dark rainy days and wet socks.

I am not happy about resuming busy after school hours and evenings.

But then the sun came out...briefly, weakly.  I remembered that there is a lot to be happy about.

I remembered starting out on a walk the other day and smelling the rich smell of wet earth and thinking spring.  Maybe?

I remembered texting with my sisters.  Olivia and I assured each other that our chocolate consumption was healthy.  Marianne and I referred to wrestling someone off a tractor.  It's a long story.  But when you have sisters, it's fun to text with them.

I remembered how very kind Adam is to me when I can't sleep.  He wakes himself up to talk sensibly to me.  He tells me to turn off my alarm clock...he'll get up with the kids.  He's a good one.

I remembered time spent with Mark.  During the Christmas vacation I missed him a little because he was off and running with his neighborhood friends and I saw less of him.  I love having school with him and his various stuffed animals.  (He insists they like learning about science.)

I remembered shopping with Mark.  He likes to "speed shop."  He asks me for tasks and bolts away at top speed to find them. I call after him to not run but that's like telling a Seattle sky not to rain.  He runs back and slam dunks whatever he found in the cart and asks for a new item to find.  He says, "C'mon Mom.  I am in the zone."  We'll probably get asked to shop elsewhere because I doubt stores enjoy red heads that catapult around but in the meantime, we're getting our shopping done quickly.

So I guess what it comes down to is this: re entry is no fun but life is still good.