I spent most of today wandering around whining inwardly to myself (or laying on the couch, whining inwardly): waaaah, I'm still sick. waaaaaaaaah, I'd like some candy. waaaaah, my big stupid house is dirty and I have to clean it. waaaaaah, it's raining out and I've been stuck in the house for a week and a half and I'm bored.
Wah.
And meanwhile, the poor old Baby was watching me slump around in my foul, sulky mood and eventually I caught her bawling her eyes out in the laundry room, damn me. So I realized that someone here had to at least pretend to be an adult and so I read her a stupid Blue's Clue's book and we split a popsicle and made some white chocolate-banana gluten-free muffins and a batch of playdough, her scooting around the kitchen delighted in a vintage yellow apron and then playing happily with her new playdough.
And I turned around and saw her sitting happily at the table, singing one line over and over again ("my cows and chickens ARE GOING TO THE DICKENS!") and felt instantly better, this whole day suddenly turning into one vivid golden memory, this gift that I did not deserve.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
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67 comments:
And she'll have a great memory too!
Those memories come from the darndest places! I do hope the plague does leave your house soon:)
Unexpected joy is sometimes the most gratifying. I am glad you got out of your funk. I hope you and yours are all healthy soon.
Your day sounds exactly like mine except I just got out some store-bought Play-doh and we haven't baked a thing yet, but I know where I can find a really good brownie recipe (nudge nudge) and we might be using that this afternoon. After a cold, wet trip to the library that I promised and can't back out of. Wheeeeeee!
Ah yes, a gift indeed, but you did [thoroughly] deserve it.
Best wishes
Yay for you! ;-) She is a little ray of sunshine.
She's so funny! Wherever did she hear that?
And I'm SO glad that the playdough worked out for you!!! (And her!)
Such a lovely golden picture, too. You deserve the memory. You earned it.
Isn't it amazing how that works sometimes? I'm having a wah day too (slept all day, now feeling drugged and sorry for myself). I'm going to try to pull it together to pick up Munchkin from day care now. Then we'll both feel good, I hope.
Oh, but I think that you did deserve the gift! And what a great line, about the cows and chickens. I don't know the tune, but I can just picture her belting it out. Awesome.
What a phrase!! That's priceless.
Hope the sickness GOES AWAY, so that you can clean your big messy house and play with your beautiful kids.
Awwww. Don't you hate it when your job as a mother doesn't let you wallow in your own self pity? The fact that you didn't though, and you stopped and made muffins and playdough and read stories means that you really did deserve this gift. Because that's all that being a good mom means sometimes, just doing what you should when you really don't feel like it.
Sweet memory. Sweet picture. Sweet Beck. :)
Silver lining and stuff.
I had one of those days yesterday and Boyo and I enjoyed and laugh-filled lunch that seems to be the only thing I remember now.
We take what we can get, eh?
Great picture! And I'm glad you're feeling better - at least in mind if not in body!
I am following in your footsteps ... ugh I feel like poo. So you are telling me that if I bake, put a yellow apron on the kid, I will feel better!?!?
Awww, she is just too cute for words! I hope you start feeling better soon. Being sick is no fun at all!
A wonderful story, hope you start feeling better soon.
She'll love you for the memory of reading to her and making playdough and muffins when you didn't feel well. You did so deserve that memory!
If you didn't deserve it, you wouldn't have noticed it.
she's precious. hope the sickness leaves soon.
That Baby is so endearing. I just love her little self. And I am glad you found something happy about the day. Being sick stinks!!
Sometime I think God gives us kids to kick us out of our self pity. If I look to them when I feel like crap, 9.8 times out of 10, they make me smile.
I'm glad that The Baby made you smile your funk out too.
that photo is lovely.
Isn't that just how happiness works? Somehow it takes doing our best to make someone else happy to really get it back.
You're a good mommy!
Aw. Good mommy. Hope you're feeling better.
Great post, and good inspiration to turn my frowns upside down...at least for my kids sake!
Not that it will make you feel better but everyones house is a disaster area when they are sick. It is rather amazing that you did all that stuff with the baby even though you feel bad.
I could use some candy too.
You're so good. Good at expressing the true ups and downs of motherhood. Good at writing. And good at the whole business of motherhood.
I loathe being ill and am so glad that there was some sunshine in your day.
how wonderful.
I am awed that on a bad day you can whip up muffins and playdoh
that is a spectacular day for me
"My cows and chickens are going to the dickens!"
A phrase like that, uttered by a cutie in a vintage apron, could completely turn my day around, too.
i sing that song with The May Queen all the time! have you seen the lovely Rosemary Wells book that illustrates the song?
Oh, that apron!!! Feel better soon.
what a beautiful sunny picture and memory! i woke up today so excited for my kids to go to school. my son then revealed a temperature, my daughter refused to attend school without him - so instead of my restful day, I spent it with two whiny kids....indulged in self-pity until 2pm and then decided to make the best of it. tried some new recipes (always a pick me up) and made yorkshire pudding for the first time - successfully!
Beck, reading you is like having a wonderful childhood memory...how can I apply to be adopted by you?
(Seriously, you DO deserve this memory!!!)
Funny how the very best moments just sneak up on you when you least expect it!
Way to go... It's hard to stop the whining!
Oh you are so wonderful. And you DO deserve that gift, my girl. God gave those kids the best mommy in the whole world!
Good grief! Will you feel better already?!
I love the line she's singing but what is the song? Do you know? Did she make it up? I've never heard it before>
Anyway, your posts always make me smile...and think.
I'm new to your blog so let me just say, I'm sorry you're still sick! AND what a gift your sunny yellow girlie is!
Just look at her.
I had the same thoughts today that I should just buck up and be a good mommy despite the fact that I'm 6 ft under after being sick for a week.
Courtney is bored and probably stir-crazy and lonely, and Jack needs a playmate.
You get the good mom award -
and tomorrow I will do better when I say to myself, "my cows and my chickens have gone to the DICKENS!" :)
But hey! I just remembered!
Jack and I made brownies this week, too! Oh, whew. I'm not THAT bad of a mommy. :)
January is such a blah month, it's harf not to sulk. She looks just like a ray of sunshine though.
Yes, being cheerful in the depths of self-pity is hard; being an adult is harder still, even at the best of times. Well done.
Wow, I totally didn't expect to be left in tears! Lovely post. You are right, though, sometimes you have to fake it and then things turn around.
Beautiful memories.
she reminds me of my girl in that apron. i have a gauzy turquoise one that she like to wear.
Ah, very sweet!
Lori
Isn't it amazing how, all of a sudden, an everyday (or even previously trying) moment can become the golden stuff of memories? I'm astounded by this every day.
It is so hard to always be the "up" person in the house, isn't it? Especially when you are sick. Blaaaahh. Way to turn that one around. I don't know if I always do so well in that department.
That pic is TOO CUTE!
The best kind of memories come when you least expect them, I suspect.
This is so precious!
I hope you are feeling better soon!
Beautiful, Beck. And what an appropriate title.
Heidi
That's just the sweetest photo of her, Beck. I hope you're all starting to get over this flu bug. My poor Krissy, eight months' pregnant, has it too. Miserable.
Its little 'events' like these that turns the 'black clouds' into a clear blue sky.... you definitely deserve it.
of course you deserve it. It is those grounding sort of memories that catch us by surprise that are the best.
Kids have a great way of turning our days around, don't they?
You are a COOL MOM to make playdough and muffins when you're feeling so bad. You rock!
I totally understand why you were so down though this flu bug that is making it's way around the globe could floor an elephant.
But what a precious memory. She looks so cute in her apron.
We all have days that start lousy. It is about whether you can turn it around.
Emily
Golden memories. Cheers!
What is a good play doh recipe?
Hope you feel better SOON!!!
I was like that the other day, and T. pulled me right out of it, in that amazing way she has!
Beautiful, dreamy picture, too!
Yes you do deserve this...What a beautiful day.
What did we do before we had children to snap us out of ourselves?!?!
I hope that when my little girl comes and gets a bit bigger, that she will love to put on old aprons and make things with me. The Baby just sounds like so much fun!
Does get much better than that...
You deserve that gift for realizing you needed to turn the day around and setting about doing it!
You weather the highs and lows of parenting with such wonderful self-awareness and grace.
Children. are. the. best!
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