Momming on the Hard Days

Today is a hard mom day.

What do I mean by that? Today is a sick day. My daughter woke us up at 4 am and has been throwing up ever since.To top it, this day comes after quite the eventful week.

The week was an exciting: my husband announced the launch of his new business. The week was a disappointing week: we had to cancel my daughter's big 5th birthday party because of a fire in our community. This week was a stressful week: my son decided to throw the tantrum of the century during my daughter's big Halloween costume parade at school. This week was a party week: two birthday celebrations and of course Halloween! This week was an adventure week: my mom treated all of us to a trip to the American girl doll store. This week was an annoying week: my dryer broke and I've been hanging my laundry on a line... which is super time consuming as it turns out!

Guys, after a week like this one, this mom is tired! I hit that pillow hard last night and slept like a brick. I had dreams of tomorrow, a relaxing day complete with no chores, some morning snuggles and a mid-day mommy break at a local brewery with some close friends.

Then 4 am hit and I woke to a small silhouette next to me announcing "My tummy hurts."

Poor thing, I'll help you by turning on a movie and going back to bed. Mommy needs more sleep.

But then the throw up started and I knew today was going to be hard.

I'll admit I'm fall victim to my moods. If I wake up in poor spirits I find it hard to pull myself out of the funk to enjoy the day. So when I realized today had now become a sick day, I was discouraged, stressed and tired.

Why can't we catch a break? I just need a day off! I just need a day of peace! A day to smile! A day to recharge!

All thoughts that ran through my head while holding my daughter's puke bucket and glaring at the spot on the couch that I'll have to clean when she's done.

Then she pulled her head out of her bucket,  smiled and gave me a thumbs up. I put my hand on her back and smiled back as her as she turned back to the bucket to finish the joke.

That's when it hit me: the bad moods only hang around when I only think about myself and my discomfort. I was so busy feeling sorry for my circumstances, that I hadn't stopped to see the good around me.

My daughter is the ever optimist. She's a bright a cheery ray of sunshine on the hardest of days. And she taught me this morning that even when it gets hard, it's still easy because I'm surrounded by those I love. So if I buck up and care for those around me it'll be a little less hard and little more tender. Even in the hard moments, I mean the hardest of hard mom moments, you can still find the peace or the smiles or the love.

Because every day is a hard day.

And every day is an easy day,

And every day is a chaotic day, a restful day, a stressful day and a fun day.

Most of all, every day is an opportunity to embrace the good that shines in between the hard.