High Five for the Mundane!
Give people high fives for getting out of bed. Being a person is hard sometimes.
Kid President
Getting out of bed. Being human. For some people that’s it. They have no second thought, no hesitation, no shaking. They are up and going with seemingly no effort. For some, getting out of bed and facing being a human, in a human body, in a human world, takes great effort. There are lots of reasons and circumstances – health, relationships, home environment, financial, loss, etc.
I tend to have more days that require great effort. It’s how I am wired, woven together, and it’s my story. Health, loss, and life events have just been reality. Most mornings when I wake up, this is my first words, “Jesus this is your day. Your will. Somehow get me out of this bed!” And more often than not, he fills my bladder (I truly believe he can and truly does this!) and I must go to the bathroom!
Hang with me here…
I have shared that going to bed and getting out of bed and everything that comes in between, tend to come in waves of intensity since my little girl ran ahead of me. I go through periods when going to bed is tough. Then getting out of bed is tough. Leaving the house without feeling like I am leaving a child and bag at home will always be a tough thing to swallow.
However, I am so thankful that I was placed in a family that had the discernment from early on that the small mundane daily victories were, really, the biggest, most fabulous, in need of celebrating victories!
Do you ever think, why did I get to be born in this family, in this country, in this city, and this time? It’s just truly amazing!
When I say celebrate, what I mean is a high five, a big hug, maybe a little treat, excitement for the victory. Let me share a few…
When my brother and I were growing up we had multiple doctors in a neighboring city, which we would visit few times a year. After each appointment we knew that we would either go get something to eat or go to this little toy store or if we had time, we do both! It really wasn’t about the food or the toys, although it was fun to eat somewhere that we didn’t have in our town, and toys are always fun! But the thought of having to go straight home after sitting in the doctor’s office, sometimes for hours, was numbing. But if we had something to split the time between sitting and waiting and taking the (“long” as you think any ride over two minutes is when you are little) ride back home, somewhat of a reward for not going bonkers in the doctor’s office, somehow this made going to the doctor not so hard. A mini victory celebration.
We weren’t the kind of family that hung A+ papers on the refrigerator, which I am forever grateful for! (No offense to anyone who did- this just wasn’t realistic for us. We tended to have more artwork and pictures.) But as for grades, when our best was given to the work, we were applauded. If that meant no honor roll, or any special certificate, that didn’t phase us because we had done our best. There wasn’t ever a desire for a bumper sticker. 😊
One that my parents tended to get side-eye for but would probably really get verbally chewed out by strangers in today’s culture is food. They did a great job of just sticking to what worked for us and what the doctors were telling them to do. When I began eating food, all my doctors told my parents, “Give her whatever she will eat.” My brother’s doctors also told my parents, “Always let him have crackers or something to eat with him.” So, neither of us never quite hit the food pyramid perfectly. We both went through some really wild appetite cravings. Not to mention how creative and amazing our Mom was at packing lunches, she will have a giant reward just for this in Heaven, I am for sure! I was the kid with pimento cheese on French crackers from Fresh Market in my lunch, my brother took can squirt cheese and crackers. And somehow she also managed to have a meat in the crockpot or oven and get us to agree on two or three vegetables for dinner most nights. She is super trooper! But we made it didn’t we? And I still must eat what I can, what settles, no matter the looks or comments that are made! Every meal is a celebration- and I’m not kidding! We celebrate everything that fully settles in this household!
Unconsciously, these celebrations of the small mundane moments, prepared me for “adulting,” providing child care, becoming a small business owner, adopting, being a Mommy to Lucy, an Aunt, a daughter, a sister, a friend. Nothing is to little or insignificant! If it’s important to you, it’s worth a celebration, a high five, a piece of cake!
When I was providing child care, I learned quickly, how on the grown-ups end we can so easily build up and just as easily let down. We often forget that children are watching our facial expressions, our body language, our words, and our responses. And that we are laying a foundation for what they will view as good and bad, worthy and unworthy, happy and sad/mad. They are also looking for validation and praise, celebration of the little things. The more specific we are, the greater the chance it will stick.
Something I have also learned through children, adopting, becoming a mommy, is that milestones are simply a guide to what’s on the horizon, but they are not a competition. Celebrate them when they happen, no matter the timing! I have learned the very important lesson from all the babies I love. No two humans are the same! Lucy could hold her head up on her own from day one, five months later is when I started noticing she was losing her neck and head control. Celebrate the victories today! From swallowing to crawling to smiling to every successful poop, to God be the Glory! Celebrate!!!
Now, go get that piece of cake, that glass of sweet tea, that special candy, something easy and happy to celebrate surviving today, doing what you must for today. Congratulations! Don’t think a second thought about it! And for goodness sake, enjoy every second!!!
Life Book of the Week: Exclamation Mark, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
