Monthly Archives: November 2014

A Change in Perspective: a Discovery of Joy

When I first began this blog, I wrote about how speed bumps make me smile: and they still do. Finding joy in the everyday adventures of life often requires trying on a new perspective. Just as my brother taught me to see the joy that can be found in life’s speed bumps, my little boys challenge my perceptions of the world each day.

A few days ago, we were just blocks from home when we were forced to stop at a railroad crossing as a train slowly approached the crossing. Patrick muttered a groan of disapproval, I silently bemoaned the inconvenience, and then we heard stirring in the backseat of the van. The boys were just waking up, and I smiled at the sound as I anticipated what their reactions might be. Although my nearly-four-year-old is often slow to wake up, he became alert quickly as he realized why we had stopped.

“Dad, why did we stop?”

“Because there is a train coming, Kei.”

“Oh. Dad, there is a train?”

“Yes, Keilan.”

“Oh, thanks, Dad!”

I saw the irritation melt from Patrick’s face and felt mine lift as well; as we fell deep into a family discussion regarding the color of the engines, what each freight car might possibly be transporting, and even the parade of graffiti that consequently marched before our eyes. One of the freight cars had a picture of a Smurf spray-painted across its side, and Keilan cried out, “Dad! Look a SNURF!!!” knowing that the Smurfs had been a childhood favorite of Patrick’s. His sweet mispronunciation added to the joy of the moment as his brother eagerly pointed out, “A bird!” on the following car.

I treasured the joy of that moment as a reminder that even though sitting at a railroad crossing generally feels inconvenient at best and infuriating at worst, a simple shift in perspective can change all of that. In that moment, our perspective changed. We were no longer just counting the minutes until the train would be past; we were enjoying every minute of the show.

As the final freight car disappeared out of sight, and the crossing arms began to rise, I committed that moment to memory. That moment was a challenge to face life’s delays with a new perspective. That moment was joy.

These two bring such great perspective: and so much joy <3

These two bring such great perspective…and so much joy ❤

Joy in Exhaustion

I have two toddlers. I teach kindergarten. Being a mother and a teacher represent things about myself that I am immensely proud to call mine.  They represent challenges and accomplishments. They represent stress, sleep loss, and joy.

Just this morning, I was thinking about how I had not posted anything here in a long time. I had also briefly reflected on why: was I unable to find joy in my journey or just unable to find the time or energy to document it?  I think the honest answer is that both might be true.  My life is not without joy; however, there is also worry, dirty laundry, frustration, potty training, and exhaustion that sometimes derail me from finding (and documenting) joy in my everyday adventures.

So, that was what I was thinking about this morning. And along with those reflections, I may have said a quick prayer, silently vowing to “find” some joy today.  Then the day got rolling: the living room needed vacuuming, arguing brothers needed mediating, lunch needed making, and pretty soon the boys needed to wind down for nap-time.  Though Keilan is out-growing naps, his almost-four-year-old self still benefits from a little quiet rest-time each day.  I brought the boys upstairs, but they were not in the mood for rest–and I was not in the mood for convincing them to be. So I went downstairs, hoping that they would magically fall asleep.  Instead, Patrick volunteered to go upstairs and rest with them while I ate my lunch.  I enjoyed a few peaceful moments by myself, and then I decided that I should go check on the boys.

Caught!

Caught!

When I cracked open the bedroom door, I saw Kai asleep in his crib and Patrick sound asleep in Keilan’s bed; while Keilan played with his toys beside him.  Though I might have been just a little bit irritated at Patrick’s “help,” I had to stifle a smile.  After all, he is just as exhausted as I am, and Keilan’s “I just got caught face” was too adorable.  So I decided that rather than fight about nap-time or tell Patrick to wake up, I whispered for Keilan to join me downstairs.  I told him that he didn’t need to worry about nap-time but that he still needed to rest. I told him that I wanted to rest too so I was going to put on a movie and we were going to rest together.  Much to my surprise, my little man who is growing bigger and more independent each day, curled up next to me on the couch, and pretty soon he was sound asleep laying on my chest.  And there it was: joy.  Joy in precious snuggly moments: joy in being his mom. Joy that I would have missed if I had been cranky about nap-time not going the way I had planned.  And the best part? I was totally and completely trapped under my sleeping toddler. I couldn’t move without waking him up: I was unable to change loads of laundry, work on lesson plans for school, pick up the toy room, or do the lunch dishes.  There was my answer to prayer: I had “found” the joy I was looking for and the exhaustion that so easily derails it had been addressed too. I was “forced” to take a nap; under the weight of a sweet, sleepy toddler.

I can’t promise that my posts will be more frequent because of this incident; but there was reason to celebrate joy in my journey today.  And today joy was found in a moment that might not have happened if everything had gone according to my schedule; so it was also a reminder to enjoy the journey: to find joy, even in the unplanned adventures of each day.

Joyful Snuggles