What a Difference a Day Makes

We have a parade of visitors coming through these next weeks. My mom was here and gone and my sister and nephew were here for a week and left Monday. This is a special time. We have so much changing in our lives right now; new baby, new job, new house....read yesterday’s post if you missed it.  There’s something really great about sharing this time with friends and family that I love. Although crazy sometimes with extra people here, it’s a beautiful thing to share your life.
While my sister was here our house was brimming with five kids. Five! We did a couple of park outings just for sanity’s sake, but other than that we left for necessities. Necessities like the boys’ Boy Scout awards and Sophie’s dance recital. Those life-marker things that are so special to share.
The hard part to me about all these people around is that all the sudden they’re gone. Gone! And I remember I have four kids. Four! Four kids to take care of all by myself.  Throw in a husband that’s out of town Monday through Thursday and you have yourself a recipe for a breakdown, folks.

We kept things pretty much together on Tuesday. My sister flew out first thing that morning and we did pretty well the rest of the day. Wednesday was a different story.

Bad days seem to rear their ugly heads in the form of a big ol’ chain sometimes…one link leads to another. Like if one things seems bad, there’s a whole mess of other things that follow. I wrote my friend a text around noon that looked something like this:
Hi. Vera has been upset and crying for two hours straight.
My house is a disaster. I’ve been yelling at my kids all morning.
My bed isn’t made. I haven’t brushed my teeth.
Jarrod is out of town all week til Thursday.
Nothing in my closet fits me: maternity too big (and depressing) and regular clothes are too small.
I’m out of all groceries.
I’m having a bad day.


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That kind of day. Been there? Vera was crabby and not sleeping all day and everything else just seemed to follow suit. It all seemed like crap. I did the whole “do-over” psychological mind game and tried to start over my day ten times and nothing helped.  It wore on through the afternoon until I finally got the baby to close her eyes for a while. And then just as I was taking a breather around 5:15, Jack reminded me of his church function that I had fully intended on skipping. Ugh. That meant putting Vera into her carseat (which she loathes) and loading up all four kids. We were the stereotypical crabby family on our way to church, waving at friends and glaring at each other.

The evening ended with a two-hour crying bout of Vera and me, a teary phone call to Jarrod chewing him out for being gone, and finally finally bedtime.
You know when they say things will look better in the morning? It’s not always the truth, but then again sometimes it is. And I love that. Fresh starts after a craptastic day is like “new mercies” to the max. We all fail. We all struggle some days. And then we need to redeem ourselves.
Yesterday was 190% better, starting with a full 7 hours of sleep for me and 8 for Vera!! She was so much happier yesterday, sleeping, eating, pooping and repeating in her little baby-rhythm. The kids pitched in and helped clean up the house. We ran errands together.  We signed up for summer camps. Daddy was home early. And I made dinner. Everything was brighter and better even though not everything that had been on my nerves the day before was better, it just seemed dimmer and they didn’t matter much because our day was so good.

What a difference a day makes.

{Our first picture as a family of six!}

We’re all gonna have days. Bad ones. Real bad ones. Ones that we have to go back and apologize for later. They happen, we’re human.  These days can’t be done over, but they can be superseded by better ones.  And usually, as much as those bad days come with a chain reaction of badness, the good ones come with a chain reaction of goodness. And today looks like another link…my coffee, a blog post, a quiet house to collect my thoughts before I start the day….goodness. One of my best girls is going to be on her way here in a few hours despite a flood in her basement, a long weekend of friend-time…goodness. We’re turning it around, folks.

What a difference a day makes.

Here’s to a happy, safe, beautiful long weekend…

10 Comments

  1. You are not alone in this quest for finding sanity and peace with littles.Thanks for your gentle reminders that bad days will come, but He is greater still. My Littles are now 17-11; 5 kids, mostly teens and His mercies sill sustain.
    Blessings…
    Susan
    SugarBeans.org

  2. I sooooooo remember those days with a newborn.
    craptastic days are sort of regular…but then, a beautiful days rears it's beautiful face, and all is well.
    until the next craptastic day.

    grateful for the company you've had…and wishing you lots of laughter this weekend with becky and her peeps.

  3. Hi!

    I found your blog from Becky's. those days suck. And when everyone's sleeping I always think " how could I be so upset…. I have angels for children". Emotions…. They play good tricks! Glad things turned around.

    Vicki

  4. My niece once told me not to worry but to pray and you know what it works. I'm praying for you friend.

    What a way to make it all better then time with Becky and her family.
    Have a happy Friday.

  5. you are just a treasure!
    TREASURE i say!
    and boy do i know the whole waving at friends, glaring at each other bit! ๐Ÿ™‚
    hope you and becky have a BLAST!
    wait, i KNOW you will!
    wish i was coming, too!
    praise GOd for NEW MERCIES!
    xoxo

  6. Funny, I was
    exchanging emails
    with B last night
    and it seems that
    you both blogged
    about THOSE kinds
    of days!

    Here's to many more
    good links in the
    chain…..I know that
    you are going to have
    a fantastic weekend!!

    Love & Hugs,
    Suzanne

  7. Amen to a new day! It is such a blessing to have a fresh start every morning. I too had a stinky day yesterday- starting with 2 inches of snow on all my plants!! But God is good in EVERY situation. There was a lot of little prayers goen on here. ๐Ÿ™‚

    LOVED seeing all your pictures- especially of your sweet family of SIX!! I miss you guys so much!

    I hope you have a great day and wonderful weekend with your Becky!!

  8. I was popping over here to look at hs stuff and was happy to find a new post! Girl my day was awful yesterday…house a mess, running late all day and i had to take Walker to the ER because he had some sort of an allergic reaction and half of his face swelled up…in Target no less, where i was solely shopping for myself. I had to abandon cart and go to the ER!! He is fine, but we got no answers…just some Benadryl and a $75 copay. Then in all that madness I lost my credit card and had a crying 3 year old to boot. Bad day. i ended up coming home and yelling at everyone for not cleaning up after them self. I woke up feeling like a bad mom and self doubting my skills as a future hs mom….how do you do it all?? Ok, thanks for the therapy session, I feel much better.
    Have a fun weekend!

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