I’m having a week where I most definitely have earned the title of mother! You know the weeks I’m talking about (and it is only Tuesday morning). Overnight, I had the second child this week with stomach bug symptoms. My hunch is not stomach bug since they don’t have other symptoms but simply too many treats and activities in the season. As I was up in the middle of the night once again cleaning up my least favorite thing to clean up as a mom, I chose gratitude and joy. I reminded myself what a gift it is to be a mom to care for these precious children I’ve been given to raise.
Gratitude in motherhood is not always my first thought or a natural response. It’s a choice with incredible benefits. It makes me think of the idea of “fake it till you make it”. Sometimes gratitude comes easily for me but other times when I am tired and waking up again, it then becomes a required choice of thoughts and reminding myself of truth and beliefs over my current feelings. Making the conscious choice and reminding yourself of gratitude truly does eventually bring the great reward of feelings of joy and gratitude in the moment. Sometimes this takes time, but it makes me think of the science behind a smile. They have done studies that show when a person smiles, even when it is a fake smile, happy hormones are released into that person’s body. There is great power in our words and our thoughts, so when things are hard I choose to reject thoughts of frustration, hopelessness, and sadness and instead choose thoughts of gratitude in truth. So today, I am choosing to be thankful for a slower day with two littles at home who need extra love from me!