This is a Facebook post I made on my personal Facebook page last week. If you notice the day at the top it says Thursday. I wrote this post the very day before the tragedy in Connecticut. Like everyone around the world... the news made me sick to my stomach and like every parent in the world I couldn't stop staring at my child since the tragedy occurred. I was going to blog about my post later that evening, but time got away from me and I knew I'd get around to it sometime this weekend. Little did I know how much more it would actually mean from when I had originally posted it. Before I continue let me please say as millions have already said... the parents and families of those lost in this horrific tragedy will forever be in my heart and prayers.
So my two days of "disasters" (and we all know why I'm putting that in quotes now) began on Wednesday morning... my little man had been sick for a few days and so had I. Just your basic run of the mill colds... nothing that was alarming in any way. Wednesday morning had been our best morning yet, so Grandma asked if we were up for going to Costco. I got my son and myself ready and the three of us loaded into the truck. I literally pulled out of the driveway and my little guy had a coughing attack so I put the truck in park and tended to him quickly... then all was well, I put the truck in drive, drove to the end of my street... and my poor baby started vomiting non-stop! I quickly put the truck in reverse, backed up and pulled back into our driveway... I grabbed what I could to help him and then my mom helped out (thank God for Grandmas) as I ran inside to get a towel. Nothing was salvageable... so to speak... meaning there was major clean up after all was said and done. I grabbed another towel and laid it over my shoulder and grabbed my baby out of his car seat and took him inside. I ran the tub and cleaned him up... The whole time that boy of mine never cried and just wondered what was going on. That was the first time he had a real vomiting episode like that and not just "baby" spit up. Poor thing.... So anyway that was "disaster" number one. Yeah sure... no big deal right? Well add being sick and pregnant on top of it all and it wasn't that much fun.
"Disaster" number two... The next morning I took my cat to get groomed... yes I said cat. They wanted us there at 7am!!! My son doesn't wake up typically before 8:30am therefore NEITHER DO I!!! So having my cat at the groomers by 7am was not exciting for my pregnant sick self whatsoever. I dropped him off... went home for only about 20 minutes before getting the phone call that he was ready to be picked up. All this time my son was sleeping peacefully (at least one of us was). So I went to go pick up my now not so furry fur ball (don't worry Grandma stayed with my little man each time I left) and all was going well... That is until I smelled something not so good in the air halfway home. My poor kitty decided to use his crate as a litter box!!!! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't get home fast enough... Luckily the crate held it all in (along with his very fluffy tail... bleh) and my truck did not get dirty. So as soon as we got back to the house straight to the bathtub I went again... this time with my cat. Luckily he doesn't hate water and I dropped him in a tub a quarter full of warm water, soaked him down as best I could then let him jump out onto a towel and dried him as best I could. Then came cleaning the crate. Sigh.... So yeah... not really all that bad... but add in being sick, pregnant... and oh yeah did I mention my husband had been out of town since the previous Monday?
So after all was cleaned up... my son woke up (perfect timing) and our day "began". I was making his breakfast and thinking about how I was going to list my complaints on Facebook as soon as we sat down and let everyone know how much the past two days had sucked. Something happened to me though... as I was preparing my son's breakfast and watching him play and watch some morning cartoons... I'm not quite sure what it was but my spirits were just lifted in a way... I thought of all the events that had occurred in the last 48 hours and all I could think to myself was... how much worse it could really all be. You see I'm not a stranger to tragedy... we lost my father in a horrible plane crash when I was a little girl and although I was incredibly young I remember every single detail of that horrible day. I know what it's like to have someone one day and have them ripped from your lives the next. It is because of this knowledge that I have forever since seen and treated life differently.
Some people I know think I take it to an extreme... I even have friends that think I live too much in the "what if" and may possibly need therapy. When my friend mentioned that to me I discovered that I DO live in the "what if" but you know what... I was proud of that. Sure... I'm definitely not saying someone should live in a hole their whole lives AFRAID of the "what if"... but that's not how I am. I'm simply AWARE of the "what if"... knowing that it probably won't happen but that it very possibly could. It's because of that frame of mind that I don't let an hour go by without telling my loved ones what they mean to me, that I don't voice my gratitude out loud for all my blessings, that I don't soak up simple every day moments KNOWING they are amazing and that it's those simple moments that will live on forever in my heart if it should all be taken away from me in a blink of an eye.
The original name of this post was going to be "Do You Complain Too Much?"... I was going to name it that because sometimes all I see on Facebook all day long are complaints about life and "woe is me" type of posts... and every time I see them I shout out at my computer screen "You're alive!", "You're healthy!", "You're not in the hospital with a sick child or family member afraid they may lose their lives!!". I literally think those thoughts to myself right before I'm about to complain about something so incredibly mundane... and you know what... unless it's one of those horrible things I just listed or something along the same lines.... IT'S ALL MUNDANE! If you can get up the next morning and have a semi-normal day with your husband and children there to kiss and hug... Then there should be nothing to complain about. Sure... LIFE. IS. HARD. It's supposed to be and everyone has their own individual trials and tribulations that they go through and yes sometimes it's worth an aggravated grumble or two... but when you feel like things just suck and you wish your life were different... just remember the "what if"... What if your life WERE different... and not for the better but for the worse?
It may not always be easy but one should try to be more grateful in life... even for the bad things that happen to them... because in hindsight, aside of course from tragedy, it's probably not all that bad. If you've got a cold, be grateful you don't have the flu. If finances suck, be grateful for peanut butter and jelly. If your child is misbehaving, be grateful your child is there, right in front of you, misbehaving... rather than not there at all.
So my two days of "disasters" (and we all know why I'm putting that in quotes now) began on Wednesday morning... my little man had been sick for a few days and so had I. Just your basic run of the mill colds... nothing that was alarming in any way. Wednesday morning had been our best morning yet, so Grandma asked if we were up for going to Costco. I got my son and myself ready and the three of us loaded into the truck. I literally pulled out of the driveway and my little guy had a coughing attack so I put the truck in park and tended to him quickly... then all was well, I put the truck in drive, drove to the end of my street... and my poor baby started vomiting non-stop! I quickly put the truck in reverse, backed up and pulled back into our driveway... I grabbed what I could to help him and then my mom helped out (thank God for Grandmas) as I ran inside to get a towel. Nothing was salvageable... so to speak... meaning there was major clean up after all was said and done. I grabbed another towel and laid it over my shoulder and grabbed my baby out of his car seat and took him inside. I ran the tub and cleaned him up... The whole time that boy of mine never cried and just wondered what was going on. That was the first time he had a real vomiting episode like that and not just "baby" spit up. Poor thing.... So anyway that was "disaster" number one. Yeah sure... no big deal right? Well add being sick and pregnant on top of it all and it wasn't that much fun.
"Disaster" number two... The next morning I took my cat to get groomed... yes I said cat. They wanted us there at 7am!!! My son doesn't wake up typically before 8:30am therefore NEITHER DO I!!! So having my cat at the groomers by 7am was not exciting for my pregnant sick self whatsoever. I dropped him off... went home for only about 20 minutes before getting the phone call that he was ready to be picked up. All this time my son was sleeping peacefully (at least one of us was). So I went to go pick up my now not so furry fur ball (don't worry Grandma stayed with my little man each time I left) and all was going well... That is until I smelled something not so good in the air halfway home. My poor kitty decided to use his crate as a litter box!!!! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't get home fast enough... Luckily the crate held it all in (along with his very fluffy tail... bleh) and my truck did not get dirty. So as soon as we got back to the house straight to the bathtub I went again... this time with my cat. Luckily he doesn't hate water and I dropped him in a tub a quarter full of warm water, soaked him down as best I could then let him jump out onto a towel and dried him as best I could. Then came cleaning the crate. Sigh.... So yeah... not really all that bad... but add in being sick, pregnant... and oh yeah did I mention my husband had been out of town since the previous Monday?
So after all was cleaned up... my son woke up (perfect timing) and our day "began". I was making his breakfast and thinking about how I was going to list my complaints on Facebook as soon as we sat down and let everyone know how much the past two days had sucked. Something happened to me though... as I was preparing my son's breakfast and watching him play and watch some morning cartoons... I'm not quite sure what it was but my spirits were just lifted in a way... I thought of all the events that had occurred in the last 48 hours and all I could think to myself was... how much worse it could really all be. You see I'm not a stranger to tragedy... we lost my father in a horrible plane crash when I was a little girl and although I was incredibly young I remember every single detail of that horrible day. I know what it's like to have someone one day and have them ripped from your lives the next. It is because of this knowledge that I have forever since seen and treated life differently.
Some people I know think I take it to an extreme... I even have friends that think I live too much in the "what if" and may possibly need therapy. When my friend mentioned that to me I discovered that I DO live in the "what if" but you know what... I was proud of that. Sure... I'm definitely not saying someone should live in a hole their whole lives AFRAID of the "what if"... but that's not how I am. I'm simply AWARE of the "what if"... knowing that it probably won't happen but that it very possibly could. It's because of that frame of mind that I don't let an hour go by without telling my loved ones what they mean to me, that I don't voice my gratitude out loud for all my blessings, that I don't soak up simple every day moments KNOWING they are amazing and that it's those simple moments that will live on forever in my heart if it should all be taken away from me in a blink of an eye.
The original name of this post was going to be "Do You Complain Too Much?"... I was going to name it that because sometimes all I see on Facebook all day long are complaints about life and "woe is me" type of posts... and every time I see them I shout out at my computer screen "You're alive!", "You're healthy!", "You're not in the hospital with a sick child or family member afraid they may lose their lives!!". I literally think those thoughts to myself right before I'm about to complain about something so incredibly mundane... and you know what... unless it's one of those horrible things I just listed or something along the same lines.... IT'S ALL MUNDANE! If you can get up the next morning and have a semi-normal day with your husband and children there to kiss and hug... Then there should be nothing to complain about. Sure... LIFE. IS. HARD. It's supposed to be and everyone has their own individual trials and tribulations that they go through and yes sometimes it's worth an aggravated grumble or two... but when you feel like things just suck and you wish your life were different... just remember the "what if"... What if your life WERE different... and not for the better but for the worse?
It may not always be easy but one should try to be more grateful in life... even for the bad things that happen to them... because in hindsight, aside of course from tragedy, it's probably not all that bad. If you've got a cold, be grateful you don't have the flu. If finances suck, be grateful for peanut butter and jelly. If your child is misbehaving, be grateful your child is there, right in front of you, misbehaving... rather than not there at all.
