there is
NOTHING
like
seeing the smile,
the arms moving in tune with his funky dance
and morning party music...
My two year old son, wild and free,
giving his Mama a
Morning Wake Up Dance...
twirling,
crashing into my bedside table,
knocking over a few piles of books I've been working through,
and exhibiting way too much energy for what I can relate to at this time in the morning.
But there is Nothing quite like it...
Nothing quite like the Immense Joy he brings to my heart and the HUGE SOUL SMILE he fills me up with.
How's that for waking up on a Monday morning? A moment I'd love to freeze in time. My boisterous bubbly boy, without a care in the world...only having joy without worry and the mindset that he will be
Making Today Great!
He is making his day great! For him, that means starting the day with music, jumping, and "Tearing it UP!"
Watching my son this morning filled me such a feeling of completeness. For that moment while I watched him demonstrate his moves while blaring the music on an early Monday morning and shouting "Let's Dance Mommy! I get music for you!", all my other thoughts, worries, obsessions, "to-dos"....none of them mattered. It was just this early morning moment making me realize that Today IS GREAT!
Today will be great! Today will be great for so many reasons.
Today will be GREAT because:
- I spent time in my journal. With coffee and morning sunshine. This always brings me back to myself and reminds me what is important in life. It has been way too long since I've had this SOUL FOOD! 2 months actually. Wow, can't let that happen. Must make time at least once a week for this.
- I will have my first workout in a week since my Marathon last Monday. Yep, have not worked out one little bit. Not once. Felt great! But I'm ready to SWEAT!! Seriously, something to be said about making the day GREAT with exercise!
- I will remember that summer is going fast--this precious time with my kids is but a blink and then school will start and we'll be back to schedules, early bedtimes, rain, homework...all good stuff in their own time but not now.
- I will remember that having a messy house and toys scattered around me is a sign of the tiny life around me that I will be enjoying.
- I will tell myself that it is okay to NOT have the next BIG RUNNING GOAL! It is okay to just BE. And enjoy exercise and running because it is what helps bring meaning to my life.
- I will enjoy reading real books that are not on the computer. Books add to my life in some way and make me see the world from a different perspective. Right now I'm reading Book Thief by Markus Zusak and still reading Born To Run (never said I was a fast reader or rather a reader with an attention span and endless time to read without my kids distracting me).
- I will make healthy choices with how I feed myself and my family!
- I will continue to reread my journal and enjoy old gratitude lists, kid art, memories and other stuff that made my heart full. LIke this one:
Today WILL Be Great!
Make it that way!
Enjoy the little things
and
The BIG things.
The "Something Like Its"
and
The "Nothing Like Its"
That make you stop in your tracks and realize that
Life is GREAT!
How will you make your day great today?
Amanda
Oh my gosh, you have the best attitude!!!!! Maybe if I keep re-reading this post it will osmosisize (not a word) in my brain.
ReplyDeleteIt will be a great day because in about 2 hours I will be done writing a God-awful synthesis paper.
I can't believe that I ever thought grad school was even remotely a good idea.
You brought tears to my eyes once again! My 2 year old does almost the exact same thing, and often thing UGH! rather than seeing it for what it really is, true happiness! Have the best GREAT day EVER! You deserve it!
ReplyDeleteLOVE this.. What a lovely morning wake up.
ReplyDeleteLOVE this!love it!
ReplyDeletetoday will be GREAT because my youngest little one learned to walk and she is wanting to EXPLORE EVERYWHERE AND EVERYTHING.....
i hope the rest of your day continues to be awesome!
How great is that?! :) Love the vision of Sam waking you up!
ReplyDeleteMy day will be made great by embracing all that is life in the summertime with 4 kids and NO activities on the books! :P Heaven help me!
lOVE this post! Thank you so much for sharing Amanda. I could not agree with you more. We control our lives and our attitudes and every day is destined to be great if we make it great.
ReplyDeleteThanks Again and have a great week with those cute kiddos.
I think you need to get his little sisters to get him downstairs all set with food and pbs. My son now wakes up often by himself, gets dressed and starts playing without waking us up. Sometimes he yells at us not to go downstairs bc "I need my privacy" (wonder where he got that from, hm!).
ReplyDeleteYes, great attitude, be where you are, no rush to move into other things. Also, you've ran 2 marathons in a short amount of time, rest is what your body needs.
Have a great week!
Chris is AM:)
ReplyDeleteHow sweet. :)
ReplyDeleteToday I had to get both younger (well, Nathan at 17 is only "younger" bc he has an older brother) boys up for different camps. As I woke Jacob, who's normally up at the crack of "what the hell...", at 8, I marvelled again at the way that they only sleep in when they need to be up.
I have a lot of mornings like that :) except my boys don't dance, but they do the cannonball on your head thing. I should work on having the attitude you had today instead of the "let mommy sleep please" attitude because it doesn't really work anyway. Thanks for the post.
ReplyDeleteToday WILL be great! This whole post made me smile! I can just picture your little jumping rolling boy!!! Great writing here Amanda! Great to imagine where you are today! I'm on vacation and I feel like I miss you:)
ReplyDeleteGlad you got some journal coffee sunshine time this morning! Hope you have a great workout today!
Making today great! A morning run with my hubby on monstrous hills, a hike, picnic at the park, fishing expedition with my kiddos, an afternoon at the waterpark in which I WILL go down the hurricane slide with my kids even though they don't believe me, and a sneak away little girls night with my sister later tonight!! Love my life, love my family, I AM making today great!!! Enjoy your Monday girl:)
I also love the early mornings when they wake up much too soon, slink their way down the stairs, then snuggle on the couch before the energy kicks in.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beatiful story, Amanda. Now, if only there was a bomb-proof, safe way for the little ones to bring us coffee in the morning BEFORE TURING ON THE DANCE TUNES! Love it!
ReplyDeleteI love this post!! So inspirational. This really makes me want to start my day off on the right foot too and forget about my worries and "to-dos"
ReplyDeleteAwesome post. You will love both of those books.
ReplyDeleteToday was great because I went "running" with one of my dogs and my 3YO son. He was beyond excited and it was thrilling to watch him just be happy about running!
This all painted a darling little picture in my head of your little guy grooving to tunes as the sun rises. What a nice wake up call, who needs an alarm clock?
ReplyDeleteYou are always the most inspirational writer. I love reading your blog and it always makes me stop and smell the roses.. so to speak. Thank you
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing like an early am dance party to make your day - maybe even your week!
ReplyDeleteToday will be a great day because I started it early by running with a group and have a plan for making dinner with my husband this evening.
Being grateful = being happy. Good for you Amanda. My daughter's little sister is 2 (half sister) and I adore her. They are sooooo cute at that age. And, I'm sure you've heard it a million times, but they really do grow up fast.
ReplyDeleteoh, journal coffee morning sunshine would be a perfect start...with little boy snuggles of course. It is now the end of the day, but I'm going to get my rear to the gym and make my day great!!!
ReplyDeleteI loved this post and totally needed it today! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteGood stuff!
ReplyDeleteLove it - great post!
ReplyDeleteIf you could bottle that boy's energy you'd be rich beyond belief. Actually you are rich beyond belief and you know it.
ReplyDeleteIsn't The Book Thief a great book?! I read it with Luke for his year 11 novel (I read to give another perspective and to bounce ideas off) I love the way Zusak can paint such vivid images with just a few well-chosen words.
What a happy, positive post!!! I love it! Today will be a great day because I FEEL good and blessed for the way my life is!
ReplyDelete