Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Time to change my thinking

Tonight Natalie went to bed at her normal time.  An hour later, she was up screaming.  While she hasn't been sleeping through the night as of late, this was very uncharacteristic behavior to be up so early in the night.  I let her try and settle down on her own for a bit, but that didn't happen.  I finally went in to see if I could calm her down.

I picked her up and she snuggled in close.  I stood there swaying with her on my shoulder, fully prepared to put her back in her crib as she settled down.  Instead, I took her to the glider, held her like a newborn and rocked.  I was thinking about how I would probably kick myself later for this move since now she would want to be rocked back to sleep whenever she woke.  Then I started thinking...

How I wish she was a better sleeper.
How I wish I had sleep trained when she was younger so she could be a better sleeper.
How I wish I had more time home with my girls.
How I wish my work "to-do" list would shrink rather than grow.
How I wish I could have all my chores caught up around the house.
How I wish I was less rushed in our daily lives and enjoyed the time I actually have with my kids more.

Then I was quiet and I cuddled my sweet baby.  It was in the quiet that the soft, still voice of God spoke to me and simply said, "Be thankful."

So I made the commitment at that moment to change my thinking...

I am thankful that I get a chance to cuddle my baby, one-on-one.
I am thankful that I did sleep train, because she would probably be up more than once a night if I hadn't.
I am thankful that my job allows me to be home for bed every night and I get to be home in the morning when they wake up.
I am thankful I have a fabulous people in place who love and care for my girls when I am not able to be with them.
I am thankful I have a job and a bunch of customers who hopefully want to purchase from us.
I am thankful I have a house, a washer and dryer, clothes to be washed, food that makes dishes dirty and toys for my children.
I am thankful that God entrusted my children to me and allows me to be their mommy.

I really needed this change in my heart.  I am so thankful I decided to rock my baby girl!


11 comments:

  1. Aw- what a sweet post. I love celebrating the things we have rather than being negative, as us moms always seem to be at some point. Love this post!

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    1. I so needed the reminder. I hadn't realized how negative I had become! Yikes!! Thanks for reading :)

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  2. This was beautiful.

    To turn those thoughts into positives, it just makes a huge difference. I do this too :)

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    1. Thank you for the encouragement, at least I know it can be done. I bet I will need a reminder every now and again...

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  3. I totally agree with everything you wrote! Thank you for the reminder, it brought tears to my eyes. So often we have to rush and "get things done" that we dont take the time to enjoy the blessings we have!! Lately Isaac has been wanting someone to lay with him as he goes to sleep, so often I lay with him and think how I need to treasures these snuggles because eventually he wont want to snuggle...Great post!!

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  4. I love this! Reminds me of 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 "...be thankful in ALL circumstances."!!!! Good for you mama, I'm glad He spoke to you, it's such a wonderful thing when we hear the Lord!

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  5. What a great Mom and daughter you are. I'm so bless to have you, Ryan, Claire and Natalie in my life. I Love You!!!

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  6. So sweet!! I love those moments when they seem so small to you. There are times that even Aiden will want to snuggle with us. I still rock with Rebecca in the glider at night time until she settles in and its nice to have that one on one time.

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