Thank You Garbage

Yesterday I spent a lot of my evening, night, then eaaarrlllyyy morning reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.

I must say, when I first started the book I found her to be slightly annoying.  Maybe it was the fact that she wasn’t sad to begin with, or that it all came so easy to her.  As the evening turned in to night, I was relating more and more to what she said, soaking in her words.  She’s really done her research.  She really knows her stuff.

I loved her new approach to her husband, too often we ignore the person we’re supposed to be in love with while we’re most courteous to strangers.  I learned another new way of talking to my kids, she doesn’t say no to her kids either (well…it’s a life-long learning curve to be able to fully do that) but she also learned to reiterate the feelings they’re trying to get across as opposed to stifling them.

I started that one this morning.

I don’t know why, but I googled “How to Become a Morning Person” and read about it.  I was pretty sure at 1am, when I was still reading, I wasn’t going to get up early but, when morning came and I heard Isaac crying because of something Silas had done (sibling stuff) and I got up and just stayed up.

Initially, I wake up after about 6-8 hours of sleep and I feel fantastic, awake and alive.  Unfortunately I will crawl back in to my soft soft soft bed and go back to sleep, usually with a child or two in bed with me.  They will play and whatnot while I sleep and wake me up a bajillion times.  I know VERY well that this isn’t the best way to start my day.

So today I stayed up.  Who knows what I will be inclined to do tomorrow, but I’m happy for this morning.  Mostly because I would have missed out on some things that I wouldn’t have done had I slept in and rushed us to get ready to take Silas to school for his field trip (he’s going to see Anne of Green Gables, lucky boy).

First, being out of breakfast food (cuz I’m a rockstar mom like what), we made some baking powder biscuits together, taking turns stirring and giving me ample opportunity to reiterate emotions.  It sure works in shutting the little barbarians up…it’ll certainly put them more in tune with their own emotions as well. (Gretchen got the idea from the book How to Talk So Your Kids Will Listen & Listen So Your Kids Will Talk…I’m adding that to my summer reading list).  Happy barbarians they were.  Stirring stirring stirring.

Waiting for them to cook, I kept feeling like I was hearing a noise.  Was it a toy?  Was it coming from the neighbours?  I quieted the barbarians (tough task) and we listened for the sound.  Something was playing “Happy Birthday to You”.

The hunt began.

We’d take a few step and listen…a few more steps and listen.  I find that those tiny quiet sounds have a way of throwing themselves all over the house.  We went to the kitchen, out of the kitchen, to the chair, upstairs, downstairs…back to the kitchen….to the…garbage?  Yup…our garbage was singing happy birthday.  I told Isaac “the garbage is singing Happy Birthday to you”.  He promptly replied, “Thank you garbage.”

I’m sure it was a candle from the dollar store that my sister and I purposefully disengaged so it would NOT play Happy Birthday when we lit it.  I guess a few days in a garbage will get it started, though.

It’s outside now.

I could have slept those moments away.  But now I have them and they’re wonderful.

Knowing me, I can be almost certain I’ll go back to my old habits.  I didn’t today, though.  I got up and I feel kind of super duper about it.  The mornings are nice.  I could get more done.

Lets see what I do tomorrow.  I know if I say I’m going to do this from now on, I’ll totally jinx it.