A is for Attitude

i'm realizing lately that life is really all about what sort of attitude i bring to it. even on the worst of days, if i have a more positive outlook, it goes better. easier said than done, though.

today was one of those days. as i lay in bed at 6 a.m., awaked by matthias screaming in his bed (seriously - screaming. not crying, not even really seeming to be that upset. just screaming. nice wake-up call.), i thought this day can go one of two ways. i can wallow in my misery or i can get up and go. my misery really isn't that bad. we're over all of our sicknesses, the weather is beautiful, we have all day to do whatever we want, but jason is gone for the weekend to play rugby so i'm on my own. with the kids. at 6 a.m.

as i got up, fumbled around to turn on sesame street, and laid back down on the couch hoping to sleep for a little while longer, i thought "i'm just gonna have a good attitude about today". the day started way to early, which meant tired and cranky kids were in my near future, but the sun was shining (well, it was going to shine later in the day, at the more appropriate hour to be getting out of bed...), the breeze was blowing, so we would get up and go.

and we did. and it was great. the kids watched a little tv while i rested on the couch. we had breakfast, got dressed, and headed out to the zoo. it was a beautiful day, hiba was well behaved, matthias loved the animals, they got to play on the playground, and i wasn't stuck at home with them all day.

we came home and i promised them ice cream after lunch if they ate a good lunch. they both did. that matthias fellow is a lot smarter than he sometimes lets on. lately, he's been eating about half his food and then dumping the rest on the ground. not today. he ate every bite and then asked for ice cream. which i gladly gave to him, but now i know that he knows what's happening.

so now they are napping, both worn out from the morning, i'm enjoying sitting on the couch, basking in the sun, and thinking of what fun things we'll do this afternoon. i'm debating between the library (which never really ends well) or going to see the ducks at the peabody. or maybe a picnic at the park for dinner. we'll see.

the point is, i wish i would do this every day. it's not as hard as it seems in my head to just get up and go instead of sitting around, wishing hiba would stop hitting matthias and that matthias would stop throwing everything he picks up. it really is a matter of attitude. which is good, because it gives me the opportunity to control my day, but it also means that when we have bad days of staying home and fighting all day i am probably mostly to blame. obviously we will have sick days or tired days or days where we just need to stay put. and those days will probably be filled with fighting and time-outs. but on days where getting up and going is an option, i want to do it with a good attitude. the day just goes so much better. i hope i remember today for a while. because maybe it will help me to do it again tomorrow.