Thanks A Lot

As in, saying thanks a lot of times. Being grateful as an habitual attitude. Realizing the blessings in my life, making myself actually name them and be thankful for each one, rather than relying on a general awareness of God's generosity, or worse, taking it all for granted.

We've had a particularly frustrating day around here. I'll spare you the details but imagine 4 bored children, the best fun of the weekend over, Mama with a lot of housework and laundry to do, and hours to go until bedtime. As the day wore on I found myself getting more and more agitated with the amount of work to be done and the amount of messes that kept appearing.

The thing is, discouragement can get the better of me. I want to make our home a cheerful one and I want my children to be raised by a loving, peaceful, joyful mother. And truly, I do love being a stay-at home mom. Yet life in a family, with its spills, messes, temper tantrums and quarrels can bring on my impatience faster than a preschooler can empty a bottle of soft soap all over a counter. Exasperation, sighs, a furrowed brow, these are my characteristics more often than I want them to be.

I realized that I can allow that annoyance to color my attitude and influence my disposition, or I can find some antidote. So, in an effort to become more visibly happy, I am determined to dwell on the positive aspects of life and family and give voice to them. There are many, and I don't mean to suggest that even a day goes by without some laughs or smiles or even a prayer of thanksgiving for my family spontaneously arising from my lips. I just want to focus on them more consciously, and I want to challenge myself to do it daily, and moreover, to chronicle my attempt here at In For A Penny every day for a year.

Now, this blog post is getting long, so I'll lay out my plans and ground rules tomorrow. But in the spirit of jumping in with both feet, I'll list some of the blessings I'm thankful for today right now:

• My own cheerful mother who spent an hour on the phone with me today, helping me to lift my spirits and gain a little psychological space from the trying afternoon we were having


• Four really good kids who really did pitch in and help with cleaning up the laundry room {one of today's fun Mama projects : ) }


• My fabulously reliable husband who said he'd be home at 5:50 pm and walked in the door with a smile, right on time.