When my children were a little younger, one of them received this book as a gift. The first few times I read it, I didn't care for it ~~ this kid had the worst attitude and whined his way through the entire book! It wasn't long, however, before one of my own sweet angels had a day where they could completely relate to Alexander. In an attempt to turn the tide on a very grumpy day, I said, "You're just having a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day ~ aren't you?". At first, the Grumpy One just looked at me. After agreeing that he was indeed having that kind of day, I said, "Well then, let's just move to Australia!" (if you've read the book, you know why I said that.....and if not, Alexander exclaims at the end of nearly every whiny page, "I think I'll move to Australia!"). This response elicited a smile and a little laugh, and at story time that night....guess which book appeared? This began a habit for us.....whenever we would have a really bad day ~ either due to circumstances beyond our control or due to our own making ~ someone would rarely fail to quote those two lines from the book and that selection would usually show up at story time that evening.
Yesterday was well on its way to becoming a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. For two solid weeks, I've been walking around in a very literal School Daze......needing to finish sorting/organizing school supplies and materials so that I would know what I still needed to purchase, open that box of new books that UPS so kindly delivered, create lesson plans, etc., etc., etc. So much information and many to-do lists crowding my very simple mind that I found myself incapable of focusing on any one thing, my thoughts flitting around and landing briefly on something....then fluttering elsewhere before anything was actually accomplished.
Yesterday was going to be different. I was on a MISSION. I was going to accomplish great things. Just as I was about to get started conquering my world, my husband decides to start on a project that has been awaiting his attention for quite a while. A very good thing, except his project took over my entire bedroom/office/sewing/craft room.....exactly where the bulk of my to-do list for the day required me to be. Add to that a child who seems to have lost all of his previously well-used thinking skills and abilities ~ leading to a total meltdown over creating a cover page for his Science binder, another child who had a fever and followed me around whining about one ailment after another, a dog who won't keep his hair to himself, no A/C while my rarely-on-the-same-wavelength-much-less-the-same-planet husband completed his project, and things went bad very quickly.
I proceeded to get all worked up about not only my botched plans for the day, but nearly had an anxiety attack thinking about the year ahead and my thinking went somewhat like this......How in the world am I supposed to do everything that I have to do?? Who do these ingrates think I am, anyway?? How many people do they see when they look at me....I'm only ONE person, for crying out loud!! It was all downhill from there. Everything I'd been quietly stressing over crashed down on me at once.....
- a list of household projects constantly neglected (never mind that hubby was WORKING on one at this very moment!)
- socks on the floor that no one will claim
- trash on the floor that no one put there
- socks in the laundry basket that belong to NO ONE so therefore, no one wants to sort them
- a dryer that doesn't DRY
- a dishwasher that doesn't WASH
- DOG HAIR
- dirty dishes piled up on the counter and in the sink
- cleaning to be done
- meals to be made
- mail to be sorted
- old school papers to be sorted and filed
- boxes that need to be opened
- bookkeeping work to be done
- a long list of sewing projects to complete
- lesson plans to do
- syllabus and parent letter to revise
- co-op homework to supervise
- money that needs to be made
- bills that need to be paid
- a phone that won't stop ringing
- "Mom, can we...."
- "Mom, I need...."
- "Mom, can you...."
- "Jill, can you...."
- church obligations
- requests for blog entries on particular subjects
- hurting families
- hurting friends
- ailing family members
- personal struggles
- private battles
- frizzy hair with "highlights" taking over : (
- yucky skin that is broken out ~ I think this time from my favorite part of summer....too many fresh Georgia PEACHES (Lord, say it ain't so.....no fair!!!) : (
- a nose that I don't like : (
- weight that needs to be lost : (
- eyebrows that need to be plucked : (
It was right about at this moment that my feverish one interrupted my internal meltdown and said, "Mommy, my head really hurts but I'm glad you're standing there so I can look at you. Your niceness and prettiness makes it better". Nothing like when the Lord uses my children to smack me upside the head....He has a tendency to do that. I halted my silent ranting, got my little cherub some more medicine, hugs and kisses, then made my way through the mess so I could reach the computer to check and make sure I hadn't missed any of their co-op assignments. I decided to check my email.....and there was a friend asking me to pray for her family. The last line of her email...."I need to focus on the fact that God is in control and not me!". Nothing like when the Lord uses my friends to smack me upside the head as well.
After several moments of prayer and contemplation, I apologized to the child that had a meltdown that I overreacted to (yelled at), then looked around to see what I could salvage of my day. I made my way through my husband's mess to the bookshelf I had been neglecting and managed to clear some workable space....I battled the bookshelf and I won!
 |
| I now know exactly what we have and exactly WHERE IT IS on this shelf. I pity the fool that does not respect my organizational system! |
Little by little, I proceeded to make the most of my ALMOST Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day. So, I didn't do all that I had hoped, but I DID....
- organize/sort/throw away a lot of stuff
- categorize lots of school books/supplies
- love on an under-the-weather Blessing from Above
- prepared and served 2 healthy, nutritious meals to an ever-hungry crew of beggars (they made their own cereal for breakfast....I was busy having a meltdown)
- one meal included homemade whole grain tortillas!
- baked 2 loaves of yum-a-li-cious Peach Cobbler Bread
- washed a boatload of dishes
- swept up DOG HAIR
- put away lots of laundry
- observed and helped with co-op work in 3 subject for 3 different grades
- plus other various menial tasks that are (yawn) boring but need to be done nonetheless
....and I know the rest will get done, one by one, little by little. On the days like this when Australia is looking pretty good, I am thankful for sweet reminders of what's important & what isn't.....and that GOD IS IN CONTROL, not me! What a relief.....
This is posted for all of you who have ever told me that I have it all together....because we all need to know that EVERYONE struggles ~~ and even when we feel like we need to be more than we are and try unsuccessfully to do it in our own strength, God is there......waiting for just the right moment for our hearts to be ready to give it to Him so that we can put away our stress and anxiety and rest in the assurance that HE is in control.
1 comment:
My day toady was one that needed a blog post as well! Thanks for reminding me that I can Do all things through CHRIST!!!
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