The cure for a Bad Attitude

Today is a Mom day. That means that I don't work for money, but instead focus primarily on raising kids. And homeschooling, cleaning the house and such. Things were going swell until, oh, maybe 10:00 am. Most of the morning chores were done, and Bennet was done with his reading. Tommy was being a total pill, and I couldn't get the dishes finished because he was constantly needing attention. So I sat down on the couch to cuddle him and have Lisel start her reading.

Bennet took this as a cue to wind everyone up as much as possible, and the fighting began. "I'm playing with this, you get away", and "But I had it first", and "I got what you wan-ted" were abounding. My attitude was headed south fast too.

The mantra of Ann's book is "Eucharisteo always precedes a miracle". I, in my less-poetic life have translated it to "Gratitude precedes a miracle". And I needed a miracle if our attitudes this morning were to be salvaged.

So I got out my new notebook - the one bought on Valentine's day evening, so that I would actually write things down rather than wait to turn on the computer. And I called the kids together.  I told them that it was a list of some of the gifts that God has given me, and that I'm thankful for. I read to them "Children waking up singing", "Crunchy snow under my shoes", and "Birds returning for spring". Then I asked them what sorts of good gifts God had given them. We went around in circles, each saying one, around and around. "My toolbox", "my bed", "dollys for my birthday" started off the mix, then "kittens at Papa Deweys", "horses" and "designs of clouds in the sky".

Happier now, we took a walk. At the kids' request we took along the notebook, and a lunch, and continued. As we enjoyed the first picnic of spring the kids added "the pretty rocks in the park", "little baby pine trees", "shiny bikes" and a host of others. The kids alone added nearly eighty entries in that new notebook this morning.

And the miracle happened. From the time I showed them my notebook until we were just getting ready to pack up and head home, there wasn't a single unkind word uttered among the children (wish I could say so for myself). Matt offered to share his scooter on the walk, and they all took turns willingly. Bennet took extra time to help Josephine, Mattias and Thomas on the slides. Lisel quickly and happily obeyed when I asked her to change the laundry really quick before we left (that's her chore). It was almost surreal.

So, in thanksgiving for the power of gratitude, I'm going to copy here, the entries from this morning in new gratitude journal. These are God's gifts to us, and we are so grateful for them!

(Oh, and I tried to take pictures to accompany some of these, but the camera won't work for me today. Notice that's not on my list....)  




One thousand gifts, numbers 131 - 203 (Child additions are in blue, with repeats among the kids omitted)

Children waking up happy, singing
Candy sweet oranges
Thomas entertained by a block and a crayon for many minutes
Tubes to toot through
Birds singing in spring
Snow crunching under my feet
Frosty grass crunching under my feet
Light sleeping, so that chickens calling for help at 1am wake me up
Ice pick weapons
Husbands that will use them (the ice pick, that is, as a weapon)
Live animal traps (so that perhaps the chickens will not again need to call for help at 1am)
BB guns (so that perhaps the ice pick will no longer need to serve as a weapon)

Toolbox

Kittens at Papa Deweys

Dolls as a birthday present

Enough nails to make a roof

Beds

Neighbor horses

Blankets

Baby brothers

The sun

The bears on Tommy's blanket

The plants

The house 

Our bikes

The Other House

The park behind the other house

Flowers

The park in our neighborhood, here

Nice warm air outside

Our friends

Warm coats

The world

Our church

Drawing pictures

Playing outside

Summer

School

My friend Charlotte

Library books

Springtime

Teeth

Ice cream

Arlington Sale

Big brothers

Charlotte's hair

Trees

A hatchet to chop those trees

Warm fires

Our cousin's cabin

Singing songs

Mountains

Kids learning to be grateful
Gratefulness mood improvement

The designs in the clouds "They look like fireworks"

That 58 degrees outside feels like summer
The bouncy horse in the back yards, a gift that Tommy loves right now!

Mulberry trees

Chopped down trees

Little pine trees growning

Donkeys

Birt nests

Swans

Shiny bikes (not ours)

Games

The rocks inthe park

Nativity displays, still up in spring

The swish of the air in my ears when I swing

Bit walking sticks

First picnic lunch of Spring

Pine cones

Wind Chimes
Home-made Oreos
Naptime!