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My Precious Pennies

I will be AWAY until late February as we do this moving thing...again.

Ginger from Attention Target Shoppers & Tricia from 1stopmom
will be holding down the fort in the meantime - thank you so much, ladies!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Works for Me Wednesday: Sob Stories


Before I start, let me just say I used the title "sob stories" just for a lack of better (short enough) terms.  I don't really view them as sob stories, or a story in fact.  These are actual people, living the actual "story", and not a bunch of actors doing some soap opera entertainment show in the middle of the day for my entertainment.  It's just I'm not sure I could have gotten my point across in less than a paragraph otherwise, so in the interest of a short title, "sob story" it is.

Okay, now that I've gotten my disclaimer out of the way, let me share with you why reading about families like Scott & Carol Decker and Jonathan & Stephanie Waite really works for me.  It's a reality check, and it reminds me that I need to be grateful for what I have instead of complaining about it.  I'm reminded to be thankful for the little things in life, and see the bright side of things when it seems like there is no bright side. 

Last night, we made a late night trip out to Sears to pick up our family portraits, and the entire way home the little Princess decided to cry her head off.  She's a little thing, but she can scream like no one's business.  She always does this if we need to do something after daddy gets home.  The second he walks in the door and she sees him...she has to be held by him every single minute or else the world ends.  If she doesn't see him, it's fine, but once she does she needs him and I'm reduced to person-who-feeds-me.  Brat.

Yesterday I had stumbled across Jonathan & Stephanie Waite's blog, and one thing that really stuck in my mind was how Stephanie talks about not having a "wake-up cry" anymore.  That really struck a chord in me, because I am not a morning person and being woken by screaming/crying is definitely not my ideal way to start a day.  I love my princess to pieces, but when she starts crying, really crying, I'm the first one to want to rip off my ears.  It's even worse when she does it in the car and there's nothing reasonable and safe that we can do to comfort her. 

But then I thought about how much of a blessing it is to be able to hear my daughter cry.  Mindless crying screaming fits are part of the parenting experience, and as painful it is to my poor ears and my aching head, in my heart I'm glad that I can experience it.  I'm glad that I can hear her healthy scream, and I'm glad that I'm around to enjoy it.  I feel blessed that my husband is finally around enough for us to take a family portrait, and I'm grateful that we can go out together to fetch them. 

My head was still aching and my ears were probably bleeding by the time we pulled in the garage, and in the past my husband would offer to take her and allow me to storm ahead into the house for a minute or two of peace and quiet.  But last night was different.  Yes, my head still hurt, but I just wanted to hold her.  After all, it's part of the whole parenting experience and I want to enjoy every single part of it, the good and the bad, because life is a fragile thing and tomorrow everything might change. 

If I was a better person, I would not need to hear about other families' unfortunate experiences to remember to be thankful for my life.  But I'm just me, flaws and all, and I've come to terms with that.  It's so easy to forget to be grateful for the simple things in life, especially the more unpleasant things like a screaming baby, and "sob stories" really goes a long way in helping me remember to be grateful. 
 
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