Bad Days Happen

I was awake for only a short time before I could tell it was going to be a bad day.  I'm on the verge of having a cold, or getting over one I can never tell, and at least 3 of the boys are also showing signs of sickness.  By 8:30 there had been WAY too many tears and fights.  It was going to be a long day.  I went on facebook to try and distract myself from feeling too sorry for myself, when I saw a link shared by the Church about how to keep your sanity in a house of small children.  It was like it was meant for me.  It was a radio segment with two veteran moms who talk about their experiences.  They started talking about how big a responsibility it is and how overwhelming it can be and ways to help like, writing in your journal and focus on gospel principles.  Things that on a day like today would make me feel like a failure.

But what popped into my head, a tip from my Heavenly Father I'm sure.  Sometimes you just have bad days.  Everyone has them, you're not a bad mom if you do.  Just accept it and try to do your best. Not your best that happens when the stars all align, and you play happily with your kids all day.  You spend the day singing and dancing while you clean the house and then have deep meaningful conversations with each individual child.  Not that kind of best.  The kind of best where you make sure your kids are fed and relatively safe.  That's all you can do; that's your best.  We have different variations of bests and it's okay if not everyday is extraordinary.  It's okay if sometimes you just survive instead of thrive.  It's okay if you don't seize every moment and find the joy in the journey of every moment.  Some days are just bad.

Don't get me wrong, I did relish in some moments:  William randomly blowing me kisses during lunch.  Christopher and Steven taking a break from fighting to analyze and play with every component of their trail mix after lunch.  Ryan snuggling with me for a minute or two before bed.  I laughed when Christopher said to Steven, "If you don't give it to me, I'm going to ask louder.......GIVE IT TO ME!"  I broke out the camera to video the boys playing with helium balloons with forks tied to the bottom...until a fight broke out.  I actually made dinner with enough to freeze for another meal.  There was good a midst the bad.  But today I learned bad days happen (hopefully not more than one day in a row), but when they do, it's okay to call it like it is.