Melanie's Day By Day

Tuesdays at my house is family night. Each Tuesday night, one of my kids gets to choose where we are going to go out to eat and what we are going to do. Gregory is predictable... He either chooses the mall or Subway. Joshua always chooses places like Olive Garden, Ta'Molly's, or Chili's. Maddie Grace makes me drive around til she sees somewhere "pretty" she wants to check out. Taylor chooses somewhere simple like Mc'ds or Taco Bell. Tonight my kids surprised me. When I picked them up from the Y, Greg said that I looked tired and if I needed to we could wait til next week. Maddie said that we could order pizza and go home and eat together. It amazes me that my kids are so caring and understanding that sometimes I just need to rest after a long day at work.

Sometimes its the small things that our children do that make the biggest impact on us. Being thoughtful and putting someone else ahead of what they would really rather do. Also the way they have been so supportive and loving during the transition we are going through here. I know that it must be tough on them but they are not showing it. We are pulling together as a family and its making us stronger. Until you finally say enough and make that move forward, you don't realize that even though you have worked so hard to make your kids believe that everything is fine, they know the truth. They sense the stress and even if they don't hear the fighting that happens in a bad marriage they know its there . They give me the strength to keep moving forward each day. Its such a blessing and a strength to me each day and I am truly thankful for them...

We live in a world where we are so focused on the prizes and goals that if we are not careful we can miss all the little blessings we have along the way...A happy smile from a child who aced a spelling test.. A child asking for just one more hug and kiss Mommy.. Maturity and responsibility in a teenage child who helps out without being asked..The smell of your child after a bath when they curl up in your lap before they drift off to sleep.. A fresh cup of coffee before anyone else gets up in the morning...Being able to watch your children sleep when you go to tuck them in before you go to bed..

Its so easy to be focused on getting things cleaned up and the laundry done that you don't have time to curl up with that child.. Being too busy trying to get the kids in bed for the night so you can relax that you miss out on the tickles and hugs and precious moments that can give you such peace... Expecting so much from the oldest child that you don't stop and realize how amazing she is to do so much for her family... Being tired after a long day and getting annoyed when your child wants just one more story.. We are so rushed and time constrained that its easy to overlook what could possibly be the best part of our day... But then we miss out without even realizing what we are loosing... Time.. Precious time that we can never get back.. Unless we learn to rethink, retrain our minds to seek out what really matters in life.. Not the money or the things, the "me" time or rushing around... Life passes us by so fast and by the time we are ready to slow down, they are gone.. Busy with their own lives and we are left with regret of days gone by and time we have missed out on.. But it doesn't have to be that way! We can choose each day which path we are going to take! Choose who we want to be.. That in itself is a blessing!

If you don't do anything else today, stop for just a moment out of your busy schedule each day and try to think of 3 small blessings that happened to you. It might not be that promotion you are working toward, or that peace and quiet you seek, but it can move you in ways you never dreamed and these little blessings can change your life for the better...