I had it planned all week…. Thursday is going to be my one day of the week that am going to stay at home all day — watch some Christmas shows, eat some cookies, read stories with Jax and get ready for the holidays.
Well, Thursday came… and Jax refused to nap. He would have a short cat nap here and there, but never long enough for me to get anything done. He gets progressively fussier as the day goes on. I change him at one point thinking that was his issue… I turn around for one minute and he poops EVERYWHERE mid diaper change. Time for a bath. I bathe him in the sink and scrub his onsie to get the stain out. We read some stories and play for a while before another attempted nap. Finally he is asleep… for a few minutes. Upon waking from this small nap, I go to pick him up… he peed through his clothes! Time for a sheet change, and bath number 2!
At this point it is mid-afternoon and I need to get out of the house and the dog needs to be walked. We attempt a stroll. Jay falls asleep (Amen). But… we get home and he instantly wakes up. I desperately try EVERYTHING to get him to nap again. Nothing is working. Okay – time for the Jolly Jumper!
It is now 4:30 p.m. and the day has gone nothing as planned. I have my few minutes of feeling sorry for myself. Then I look at his little smiling face, and all seems to be right in the world.
Finally at 5:30 p.m. he goes to sleep! I am now enjoying my Christmas episode of Bewitched (yes, Bewitched staring Elizabeth Montgomery that aired in the 1960’s – my mom introduced me to the show at a young age and I have been hooked ever since), eating my shortbread cookie (with extra icing) and sipping my chai tea. What is the morale of the story?
The day went NOTHING as planned, and in my world, today was a bad day. I am learning (slowly) that sometimes we are going to have bad days, and that’s okay. In the end, the sky didn’t fall down, and while not how I envisioned the day to go, it is ending on a good note.
When my husband and I were shopping for baby items before Jax was born, one of the sales associates at Baby’s World and I got to talking. She shared with me a valuable piece of advice… something along the lines of each us being in charge of the day we have. It is us who decides if it is a good day or a bad day. One could argue that I certainly didn’t choose to have a bad day, but in the end, it is up to me whether to dwell on what went wrong or rejoice in what went right, and it is up to me to change my outlook on how it unfolded. While it is easier said than done, that is what I am deciding to do. Back to my show, cookie and chai!
Wishing everyone a good day tomorrow, and if it is a bad day, that’s okay… hoping you can change your outlook and find the good in what the day brought. if not, here is to hoping that the day after that is better!
M.J.
