My moment today came by way of a random text midway through the morning. I was sitting at our kitchen table sipping coffee and helping my kindergartener complete a Seesaw activity on her Chromebook. The sunshine was pouring through the window and there was a chill in the air outside, when my phone buzzed. My cousin’s fiancé was doing his daily professional development and today it happened to be by way of a short video with a businessman discussing productivity. He said that it made him think of me and so he sent it my way. We chatted by text briefly about the cluster storm of the past two weeks it’s been at our house with a hit and run car accident and subsequent whiplash and baseball vs. windshield and baseball vs. eyeball and remote learning times four and and and…. We caught up too on his new homeownership and life in suburbia. It was a brief text exchange, but it was so nice.
After lunch, I finally had a minute to watch this video and it was in essence a five minute homage to mothers and their incredible capacity to crush tasks, prioritize vs. procrastinate, juggle a million balls in the air, and annihilate to-do lists with no mercy….all during the baby’s nap time. It made me smile to think that someone on this planet listened to this, thought of me, and followed through on sending it. Was it difficult for him to do? Probably not. Did that little act give me a massive pick-me-up? Absolutely. It was inspiring too, because I think of people constantly, but I don’t always take the time to send the message or pick up the phone. It’s something I am perpetually trying to improve upon in my life. It felt like such a boost to get a message like this and it inspired me to send a few notes today and look for extra ways to compliment the kids. As a parent, I am always trying to teach and model and break up fights and get them to all their things (back when we had things to get to)… but sometimes I forget, in a quiet moment, to really hone in on something super amazing about the kids and shower them, alone, with compliments. Kind words are wonderful, like a shot of espresso to set a heart aflutter. It allows us to feel seen, validated, and appreciated…. If you have a moment (which almost assuredly we all do) to send one person in your world a quick love note, a text, an email…. Drop off a little something on their doorstep… Roll in a neighbor’s trashcans… do it. It is easy as pie, it feels like heaven to do and it is so uplifting to receive.
Care to share your thoughts?