Ten Things of Thankful – I Don’t Wanna Edition
I haven’t posted much this week at all.
OK, I haven’t posted anything, really, unless you count the Soup of the Week and the Rotten Cats’ Halloween greeting.
It’s been a lousy week. Period. The details are irrelevant. Nobody wants to hear me whine – including me. So by the time Friday rolled around and it was time to think about doing my Ten Things of Thankful reflecting…well, I wasn’t feeling very thankful at all.
In fact, I’ve been feeling rather crankful. But the nice voice in my brain said “Do it. You have lots to be thankful for, really, even if you have had a lousy week.” And every time that happened, the cranky whiny brat voice inside my brain said, “I don’t wanna.”
So I didn’t.
But I feel like if I don’t try to be a grown-up about the whole thing, there will be no hope for positive in the week to come.
And so, albeit grudgingly, I have the following to be thankful for this week…
1. Kidzilla’s behavior in church this morning was pretty darn good. This is huge. I have enough trouble sitting still for an hour and staying focused and I’m 43 with a whole lot more experience managing my ADHD than Zilla has. She’s five and is only just beginning to figure herself out. So I’m calling today a win.
2. In fact, Zilla’s been making some positive strides in the behavior department. Is every area improving? No. Is every area perfect? Not by a long shot. But we have a whole bunch of small victories and we’re capitalizing on them.
3. A BFF who knows exactly how to talk me down from the proverbial ledge when my stress level at work has hit tilt. Sometimes you just gotta bounce your s**t off of someone else and she generally doesn’t mind.
4. A Fab Hub who knows exactly when to try to talk some sense into me and exactly when to shut his mouth and let me be when my stress level at work has hit tilt and I haven’t adequately decompressed and left it behind and bring my foulness home. He puts up with me way more than I deserve.
5. Rotten Cats who somehow seem to understand that I am at Stress Level Tilt and wisely stay out from underfoot. And then also snuggle up to my feet at just the right moment to offer a little comfort.
6. A Kidzilla who just by entering the room makes me remember that I really have to check that foul mood at the door. All she wants at the end of the day is some Mommy-Zilla time and I’m thankful that she has the power to make me forget all the crap – at least for a few hours.
7. A BFF and a Fab Hub who understand the end of marking period deadline thing well enough to know that it is wise to encourage me to push through my bad humor, headache, and I-hate-how-dark-it-is-at-five-o’clock lethargy and get at least one more task checked off the list so I won’t be completely overwhelmed at the very end of the deadline. They’re smart but I would still rather go to sleep early. Poo to both of you for being right.
8. Warm socks. My feet are cold. My socks are very warm. That’s a pretty big joy for me because when my feet are cold, the rest of my body feels horrid. So yay for socks.
9. A job. This one was way hard. As much as mine is making me irritable and stressed right now, I suppose I have to be thankful to have it. Things could be a lot worse than they are for us right now and from a logical perspective, I do know that.
10. A lovely day yesterday with Kidzilla, the Fab Hub, and my Mom. We took a lovely little day trip for a fall/Halloween outing and it was really a lovely day. Even in the midst of all the nonsense, sometimes you just have to get out of Dodge, as they say, and leave it all behind for a while.
11. OK, a bonus. Daylight Savings Time. We get an extra hour this weekend. No-brainer.
Hope your week and weekend has been good. Here’s hoping the week ahead is better for me than the one behind.
What are you thankful for this week?
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Crankful is my new favorite word. And you’re welcome 🙂 love you lots
Crankful is a good word. 🙂
I’m so glad the nice voice beat out the whiny voice and you made a TToT post! I always look forward to them!
I think Kidzilla sitting through church is a huge thing! I have trouble staying focused myself, so any sitting she can do is okay in my book.
It’s good to be able to unload when you want to and good to hold it in when you need to and that you have BFF and Fab Hub to let you do what you need to do. And isn’t it wonderful how kids and cats can make you feel better just by BEING?
I hope this week goes much smoother for you. Remember that extra hour of sleep you’ll be getting!
Thanks, Dyanne. The TToT really is a good thing. It’s too easy to get sucked into the bad stuff. So I’m glad I managed to get one out.
The extra hour in the fall is GOLDEN in my book. That alone is enough to make me a little less miserable.
Little improvements are still improvements, and make a great addition to your list. Church with children can be a challenge, but is worth it. Glad you had a positive time today!
True enough, Kristi. Yes, today was a pretty good day, even if the previous week was kind of a flop.
Ahhhh this is a brave effort – it takes strength of character to focus on the Good, and determine to be thankful in spite of not feeling like it. You did amazingly well to get your list of ten done.
And even though you found it tough (especially the work one – I’m impressed that you were able to find something to be thankful about if it causes you so much stress!) there are some really awesome things in your list, and much to be genuinely thankful for.
If you’re interested, we had a post this week about some of the science behind how thankfulness affects us, and how it can be most effective when we feel lousiest.
http://inquiringparent.com/2013/11/happiness-gratitude-lovely-bloggers/
Kudos to you for this. And I hope that the coming week is MUCH better for you.
Well, thanks, Lizzi. You’re right – I have some real and true things to be thankful for and in all truth, my complaints are fairly few. I spent a lot of my younger half of life more tuned into the negative than the positive. I really try to keep that in a better balance.
I will definitely check out that post…just as soon as these stinking grades are finished!
The week’s off to a decent start. Happy week to you, too!
It really is true that even in the midst of a boat load of crap, taking time to focus on what you do have to be thankful for releases much needed endorphins. Reading through this list, life sounds pretty perfect….even with mid-term grading! This too shall pass….this too shall pass!
It must have worked, because today I felt pretty good. Even something that normally would irritate me didn’t really phase me much today. I love your reminder – this too shall pass. All things do, eventually. One way or another, the deadlines come and go and stuff gets done.
Crankful is a fabulous word.
Good for you, doing a thankful post when you’ve had such a foul week. I’ve been there, and you were much more genuine than I was when I tried to write mine in a crankful mood. Mine was full of sarcasm and didn’t make me feel better at all. I hope this one helped you. It is full of real things for which to be thankful.
Hope you have a much better week.
Thank you – seems that “crankful” is a hit. I am going to contact Merriam-Webster and see what I can do about getting in the official book.
I think it may have helped – I just kind of let it all hang out on the screen, for better or worse. Sometimes it helps to purge, I guess. No sense hanging on to it and letting the rotten mood fester. I figured if I didn’t at least give it a shot, I’d start the week from the “crankful” place and there’s really no point in starting off that miserable.
Hope your week is good as well!
Having been a crankpot all week, I feel your pain! Glad you bucked up…me ? Well there’s a reason Im doing this on a Monday from my work desk. HA! Have a great week!
Nice to know I’m not the only one in a funk! It happens. I’m looking forward to reading the TToT posts and getting happy. Have a great week, too!
Ok, well, I am definitely going to adopt your term “Crankful” …and kudos to you for moving onward & doing this list anyway! If you go a few weeks back on my TToT lists…you will see there were more than one week in a row where I came to the TToT in less than a joyful mood!
I have a kid too who makes me check my mood at the door. …well, actually two of them. One will take on the same mood I have so if my mood is bad, there are two of us with bad moods. Not good. Not good at all. The other one takes it personally or she feels really bad that I am in a bad mood and wants to make it better. That responsibility shouldn’t be on her, ya know? So…I try. I try to be better about it.
It seems “crankful” is the hit word of the day!
I figured that I probably needed to do a TToT on a crankful week even more than a thankful one. No easy task.
You’re so right about it not being the kids’ responsibility to make us check our moods or try to make us feel better. After all…where will they learn how to handle their own grown-up moods if they don’t see it from us. Talk about a heavy responsibility! Zilla also likes to remind me not to say bad words…yikes!
Crankful is an awesome word! And I hear you about being thankful for a job while simultaneously being completely overly stressed because of it. Sigh. Also? Cheers for socks! Great list!
Sigh is right. And yes, socks are wonderful. Especially socks that actually keep your toes warm.
I’m thankful for warm socks too. Although I don’t get to enjoy them as often as I should. I’m also thankful for a great Halloween this year. It’s one of my favorite holidays so I’m always thrilled when it’s here.
Do we want to know why you don’t get to enjoy warm socks often enough?
Your haunted house story was awesome, by the way – crazy!