What April Taught Me.

That life will probably never look like I think it will, and that’s okay. I say this a lot, but I am the biggest planner at heart who is living the least-plannable life at the moment. And I am slowly (oh so slowly) learning that it is okay. In fact, it’s sometimes it’s better than okay, because sometimes being flexible and going along with the flow leads to really great things. I realize I will be learning this for many more months (years?) and will probably master it just as I’m heading into a season of life where things are easily planned. But whatever, it’s a journey, right? 

That cooking dinner makes a big difference. This is so silly, but it made the list! Usually, when Chris is working a rotation where he works late and isn’t home for dinner, I just eat cereal or drink a shake or something in lieu of dinner. This month, though, I’ve been making it a habit to actually fix real food for dinner. It’s made a difference in two ways: One, it makes my day feel less like a throwaway day (know what I mean?) and two, I feel a lot better physically when I’m eating actual food instead of cereal every night (Who knew?!). I feel like this is a very “Well, duh” thing, but I learned it this month, so on the list it goes. 

That recognizing the negative doesn’t mean you aren’t thankful. On Tuesday, I had a rough day that quickly spiraled into a bad night. Just a lot of little, frustrating things and a few big and bad ones. I posted a cute video of Jack pulling a blanket over his head and just laying down and said “100% how I also feel about this day” and a friend messaged me saying she, too, was having a bad day. So we exchanged teething toddler tales and stories about how the world was out to get us today and it made me realize that sometimes, it’s okay to talk about the negative. 

Sometimes I feel the need to make a bright side out of everything because if not, surely that means I’m not thankful for my life, right? NOPE. Last week, I had a toddler with a double ear infection and medicine that induced insomnia. That’s a negative. It doesn’t mean I’m not thankful for said toddler, or that I get to be his mom, or that I have so many good things in my life. It just means some days have bad things, too. And it’s okay to talk about them!

What did this month teach you?