Parenting feeling hard? If you can't appreciate the day, find a moment instead

I adore my kids and I know you love yours too but that doesn't mean every day is roses. Sometimes it's boring. Sometimes the kids are whiny (which may mean we are whiny because the littles reflect us, but that's another story). Sometimes we are tired. And sometimes, sometimes, it's just a short-order-cook day with "Mama! Mama! Mama!" and hurry up and DING! here's another request like a short-order cook and all.the.demands.

So if your ability to appreciate your life on a day like that (or a week like that, or heck, a year like that) is waning, you aren't alone.

How are you supposed to appreciate a day that doesn't look like it's going to let up all week?

Sometimes you can't.

But you can appreciate a moment.

Here is a true life story. I know, it's mine.

I'm getting chewed on once more. I'm sitting in the pen with the puppy and the three year old and the puppy is chewing on me and it's not his fault because the three year old is tossing toys at his face and waving his precious blanket around like a bullfighter in the ring.

I am not enjoying this.

Those little teeth hurt.

Those Petco products hurt.

I cannot find a smile at that moment and think I love this time and all the times today I get to do this again and again to care for these two little ones because I don't. I don't love it. What I really want to do is curl up in a pair of sweats and read the book of the short stories on my Kindle that my friend wrote without being touched. I can't remember the last time I read a book at leisure or sat down without being jumped on....

OUCH.

But then there was a moment of calm.

One beat. Maybe three, of peace.

That's when I found appreciation again.

Ooh! I love this moment.

Here. This moment here. The puppy is warm on my lap and my beloved boy is giving him a gentle hug. This is beautiful.

Ack! Too tight! Puppy bite! Redirect, teach, redirect, teach!

Wait. Here is a moment. The puppy is sitting down and my amazing child is petting him so lovingly. This is beautiful. I love this moment.

Ack! Puppy attack! 

And on it went.

When I found a spot of lovely–and there were a surprising number of them once I paid attention to them–I held it in my mind for a moment and gave it the doe-eyes.

You are so awesome. You. This moment right here.

That I could do. I couldn't see into the entire rest of my day and feel the love but I could appreciate a moment I genuinely liked so I kept it up. Not all day. Not every moment. But I found true moments to appreciate enough that...

Little by little, everything got better.

You've heard it before and it really is true: life is just a string of moments all put together. If you can't appreciate the string, find a pearl to admire. They are there, even in the midst of the most trying days they are there.