It's All About Today

Day 3: Write about something you feel grateful for in your life today.

Those were the instructions at hand and I have literally thought about this ALL day. The good news about that is I focused on being grateful all day and had a tough time narrowing it down. The key word in the instructions is "today". So, while there are so many (obvious) things I'm grateful for everyday, I had to think about this a lot.

It kept going back to Belle and how she's been so sick and today was the day the doctor said if she still had a fever, they were going to run additional tests to see what else was going on with her. Had her swine flu spread to pneumonia? Would she have to go to the hospital? Things that run through a mom's mind when told "more tests". THANKFULLY, she had no fever at all today. So, obviously I am grateful for that.

But I tried to think of a bigger picture item that went along with it and finally - it came to me. Here is what I was grateful for today: The fact that I've had a job that allows me to work from home so I can be with my kids before and after school and during the day, when necessary. I get to ask about their day without feeling the rush of "gotta get dinner cooked, get homework done, get to practices, baths/showers...". No, instead, I've had the luxury of picking my kiddos up from school every day, hearing about their day on the way home (picking them up in the middle of the day if they are sick), making them a snack, hugging them immediately if they've had a bad day and all that goes along with the quality time you can never get back once they're older and the regret comes about not being there enough for them when they were 'babies'.

So, today, as the day came to a close and I rejoiced the fact Shelby's fever didn't return, I reflected on our last 5 days of snuggling on the couch with me trying to make her feel better and get rid of her fever, aches and pains. Those days are being sat on the shelf for now. Children grow up so fast. I feel like before too long they won't want to snuggle with me at all...sick or not! I know this is an "everyday" thing (stay-at-home-job...at least for now) vs. "today" but today it really hit home. It might not always be this way and I'm so extremely grateful it has been. When my kids are sick, I don't have to stress about a boss getting upset with me not being at my desk. All I have to stress about is how I can make them feel better. Not every mom is in a position to do this. I have been for awhile and for that...g-r-a-t-e-f-u-l.