Today stands as traditionally “do something nice to help the family” but I have to be honest:  my family is not feelin’ that today.  Perhaps that is all the more reason we need this mandate on this day… 

It’s going to be a hard road to navigate with my small people.  The sky is gray which never bodes well for us.  Mama has Seasonal Affect Disorder and no supplement or special light on earth has ever been able to combat this.  Careful management and actual sunlight are unbelievably powerful.  Still, here in IL, we get too many gray days for me to manage.  I got out of bed at 11am this morning–having read 4 books (with Latino flavoring) to Girly before finally removing myself from the big bed.

It feels like the person with the most negative tone in the morning has the potential to set the tone for the day.  No bueno.

So the first thing Mama needs to do nice for the family is to hit the reset button and make some happy connections.  Girly is especially sensitive to these things and thankfully, I was already able to break the whining, slug-like-movement bored and upset attitude.  BigGuy was getting distracted with a game that teaches about stars and without belittling his love for these things, I was able to commiserate with her about how lost we are when it comes to our BigGuy’s joys; and how silly we felt when he talked about astronomy.

When she laughed with me–when we could laugh together in the bond that included the THREE of us rather than bonding the two of us against him–I knew I could turn the day around.  It was one of those parenting moments you wait the entire year (or maybe a lifetime) for.

I’m sure my kids are going to complete some regularly scheduled chore and say that they did something nice for the family.  Today, this year, is not going to be the year I push them on it.  We are all still grieving the loss of our dog and I need to be gentle.

For now, I am happy to carry the burden of doing something nice for the family.