Sprinkles, Glitter-glue, Life
"Mommy, where are the 'sprinkles'?
Not the first thing one expects to hear uttered, and with urgency first thing in the morning when you've barely made it to the bathroom with just one eye opened.
"I need to know where we keep them before the glue dries!!!"
Both eyes opened now. Deep breath. Good news - child is dressed, and in appropriate school attire. On the other hand - what on EARTH am I going to disover when I descend the stairs. Glitter? Sprinkles? Glue? On what surface?
Good news: he had used only a glue stick. Less than good news: the cat had sat in and walked across the unexpected pre-dawn art project while he was searching for 'sprinkles', now there's GLUE on the cat!
CATastrophe averted. Mommy rescued the art, the child, the table, and the cat.
Breathe. It's Life. Move forward.
Life IS messy. We've got to clean it up and keep moving forward. But we also have to find ways to enjoy the "sprinkles".
It's hard. Sometimes VERY hard.
A client once used the term 'surrender' to describe what it's like to be present with your children. "We just have to surrender to them and to all the things that come up along the way."
And then we have to BREATHE. We need to remember to find the precious time and spaces to care for ourselves. Recharge, tune up and TUNE IN.
Starting our early mornings off with 'sprinkles', messes, mismatched clothes, lost items, food spills and overall lowered expectations does not lay out the welcome mats for days of heroic accomplishments. Or does it? Now I'm NOT going to suggest we can have it All. Conquer all. Do and Be ALL every day. NOT EVER - every day. But there is a message among the sprinkles and glue.
Go with the flow - adjust your sails and keep moving forward.
Sprinkles happen, glitter too! Life IS messy, try to find little bits of laughter, humor and joy in it all. Learn to surrender in the moment.
While we are managing all that comes up and throws itself down before our feet along our paths to success, we need to remind ourselves we ARE doing it. We ARE teaching our children how to handle adversity and problems that come up. We ARE surrendering to what life throws our way and we are STILL moving forward. We are teaching OURSELVES not to give up (at least not for very long). We're modeling how to stick to our heathy life plans and behaviors, to our goals and our dreams. We clean up the messes, and move on. See - we really DO have it in us!
We need to recognize that if we can do it with our children or jobs, we can apply it to our own personal aspirations as well. It may not be as consistent as we'd like, or as neat and as clean. But it's right there in the moments of 'sprinkles'.
Surrender to the 'sprinkles'. And when the messes are wiped up and the glue sticks are put away, BREATHE, adjust your sails and move forward! Ahoy!
a note of postscript - it was not a full 10 minutes after writing this, that I tipped upside down a bowl of uncooked scrambled eggs in the kitchen. Learning the lessons every . . . single . . . . day.....
