Jared worked until 9:00 or 10:00 every night except Tuesday, but Tuesday night I had a meeting at church from 6:00-7:00 and he had one from 7:00-9:30. I only saw him in bed this week, but he usually had his laptop out to do work while I drifted off to sleep.
This week was full of parenting challenges. Heavy questions. Deep concerns.
I made homemade Teacher Appreciation gifts for Nolan's teacher every day. Lots of work, but this woman is worth her weight in gold. So I stayed up late to make things, personalize things, and package things. I accepted a sewing job that would have been fun during any other week but is overwhelming this week.
We have gone through approximately 42 boxes of kid Band-Aids this week. I have dragged my two youngest children to Walmart and Hobby Lobby about 17 times. I had yet another doctor's appointment. The one and only toilet in our house stopped working. Griffin's fish died.
I received an email on Tuesday (May 8) stating that the Mother's Day gifts I ordered on April 28 are now out of stock. My order is canceled. It's past the deadline to order anything else. From anywhere.
We have had heavy hearts for several family members. Some relationships have been strained. I experienced heart-breaking disappointment in someone in a leadership position.
Our nights have been filled with bad dreams, night terrors, text messages, and the smoke detector going off.
It's been an exhausting week.
And I know I'm not the only one having a bad week. Several friends have expressed that it's been a tough week for them too. I'm not one to say that it's because of a full moon or the devil attacking.
Some weeks are just like this.
These are character-building weeks. Endurance-building weeks. Patience-growing weeks.
And I could easily name little good things that happened all week, and the list would be as long as the list of frustrating things. The negative just exhausted me more than the positive boosted me this week.
A woman in Hobby Lobby offered me a bandage when Nora scraped her finger in the scrapbook paper aisle and her cries filled the store. A friend who has grown distant sought me out and gently touched my back as she gave me a warm greeting. I got to eat lunch with two of my favorite people. Jared got the toilet working again. I receive a card in the mail from a friend.
I keep thinking of the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
My grandma used to read me this book all the time when I was a little girl. Just looking at the pictures instantly transports me back to her couch with the sunlight pouring in on her aged hands while I hear her soothing voice reading each page enthusiastically.
Now my kids love when I read this book to them. Poor Alexander has stuff go wrong from the instant he wakes up. His whole day is filled with unfairness and misfortune. It always makes me smile to read all the times Alexander references Australia.
He thinks things will be much better if he moves to Australia. He repeatedly declares that he has had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. But at the end of his bad day, his mother gently reminds him:
Some days are like that. Even in Australia.
I think some weeks are just like this one I've had. I have done my best to learn what I could, reach out to others when I could, nurture my children to the best of my ability, and pray my way through every day.
My flaws have been visible. On my good/better/best scale, my behavior has been on the low end of the "good" spectrum. Weeks like this remind me that I'm an imperfect person living in a seriously imperfect world.
This has been a rough week. Some weeks are like that. And then time keeps moving forward. I try not to miss the kind gestures, gentle touches, and cute kid quotes in the midst of the exhausting frustrations.
"Today is gone. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one." --Dr. Seuss
I'm going to go bake to get this week out of my system. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
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