Small Successes (Vol. 10)

Praised be Jesus Christ! And may He bless all here!


1.  This week I returned to my P90X workouts after taking almost all of last week off.  Let me tell you, it was brutal.  I don't regret taking last week off, I needed it, but after sleeping in every day last week, getting up before the sun was incredibly difficult.  I'm proudest of my dragging myself out of bed yesterday for Kenpo.  I had a late night out with a girlfriend and then severe thunderstorms in the wee hours woke me up.  I turned my alarm off and tried to go back to sleep, but my conscience said, "Get up, you lazy bum!  Don't you remember you promised to offer these difficult days as a sacrifice for the salvation of souls?  Get up!"  What a drill sergeant my conscience is!  So I got up.  Every time I wanted to quit and go back to bed, I offered it up again.

On a side note: how awesome is it that we can take these small sacrifices and give them to God to turn into something so much more than we ever imagined? 

2.  Yesterday I took the kids back-to-school shoe shopping.  We went to Stride Rite because they were having Buy One Get 50% Off the 2nd Pair.  My kids needed 2 pairs of shoes each: uniform and gym. The people who design the Stride Rite stores are a sandwich short of a picnic in my book.  I don't think they've ever actually gone into one of their own stores.  They are the tiniest stores I've ever driven and SUV stroller through.  There is no room to maneuver!  Anyway, that's not my point, but if you've been there, you know.  My point is during the long wait (only one person on duty during probably the busiest time of the year) many things happened.  1.  I did not get impatient, 2.  I had each of the kids pick out the shoes they liked so we'd be ready when it was our turn, 3.  When the baby started getting fussy, I sent the kids out to push her stroller around in front of the store, so I didn't go insane.   Eventually it was our turn and I think the sales person really appreciated my organization.  I lined up the kids on the bench and while they got their feet measured I went around the store and collected 6 pairs of shoes to try on.  Once it was our turn, we were in and out in 15 minutes.  Those are a lot of successes for one stop at the mall, if you ask me!

3.  In the waning days of summer vacation, I'm trying to do as many fun things with the kids as possible.  Yesterday, after the shoe shopping, we ate lunch at the mall.  I packed pb&j but bought them chocolate milk at Chik-fil-a.  (The cashier was tickled by how excited the kids got about getting chocolate milk.) After lunch I took them to the mall playground to let them practice their Free Running. No kidding, there were kids there who were literally trying to run up the walls.  They played for almost an hour and I only had one small , "Oh my gosh, where did the baby go!" panic attack.  I took my eyes off of her to tell Emma something, I looked back and she was GONE!  I was just starting to get that panicky feeling, when Renee came through a tunnel holding Anne-Marie's hand.  That playground makes me crazy.  There are several corners, so you can't see the entire thing from one vantage point and in those corners are exits.  Major design flaws, if you ask me.  Makes me think they need to hire a a mother of young children to consult on mall design.

You know what?  I got so off track with that last story, I forgot what I was trying to say!  Today we are going to see Ice Age 3 at the free summer movies.  Doors open at 9am, movie starts at 10.  If we make it, and I actually get to stay in my seat with Anne-Marie, I will count this as a success.  Here's hoping!


It’s important for moms to recognize that all the small successes in our days can add up to one big triumph. So on Thursday of each week, we do exactly that. To share yours, click here.