Three Parts

I love how there are three parts to every day.

Morning. Afternoon. Night time.

It's like life purposely designed it this way so that on those tough days, there are always endings to each part.

If the morning is tough, it's okay, because morning will soon be over and afternoon will start to emerge.

If nighttime is rough, it's okay, because nighttime will soon be over and morning is about to rise.

Today I was particularly grateful for these three parts. A challenging morning meant that I was aching for the afternoon to come. From a cupcake order which left me cursing fondant itself, to the parts of motherhood that are presented to us for the sole purpose of building strength and patience, I needed the afternoon to come...quickly.  

p.s. Tamara, I hope that your Scrabble themed bridal shower went perfectly today! 

It's those tough parts of the day though that sometimes give me the push to create an even better day than I originally planned.

I pulled myself together as the morning began to drift away and I marched into the living room and announced to Terry that he should go get himself ready because we're leaving in 10 minutes for a picnic at the park.

He looked up at me, exhausted from the morning himself, "What?...Now?"

"Yup, I'm turning this day around. It's going to be a great one now. We've got to make it great if it's going to be great. So go get yourself ready".

I smiled all the way through slapping peanut butter on bread, cutting up cheese into bite size pieces, slicing apples and putting grapes into tupperware containers.

We strapped the kids into their car seats, packed the van with our stroller, picnic blanket, sunscreen and hats and headed out on our search for a better day.

And you know what? It worked.

As we walked along the beautiful path at the park it felt like I was breathing different air.
It was all of a sudden calm, peaceful, quiet.

The chaos of the morning was all but a distant memory and it felt like we were starting our day all over again.

It felt good.

From a happy 2yr old exploring the playground, to a sleepy baby tucked comfortably up against his daddy, our day quickly turned around and the sun began to sneak into every single crack of our afternoon.

 

I've realized too that if you look closely while at any park, it will renew your faith in people, if it ever happens to feel like it's wavering at any point.

I watched as countless parents cheered as their children spun down the big red twisty slide. I watched as grandparents or caregivers re-positioned floppy sun hats onto little heads, slathered sunscreen onto little arms and kissed skinned knees. I smiled as I sat back at one point and realized that I was in the middle of an army of people who were all out here today with similar purposes: to create happiness.

Some of them might have been there for the same original reason as we were--maybe their morning was just as tough as ours was and this was their last chance to ease the chaos in their house. Maybe their morning was great and they just wanted to keep the happy train going.

But regardless, as I looked around at the smiling faces, the little feet running towards the slides and the giddy squeals from little ones who couldn't get enough of chasing after the ducks who were looking for picnic hand outs...it made me realize that we're all a little more connected than I originally thought. Trying to give our kids experiences. Trying to live the life that we envision for ourselves. And trying to find happiness...even if we have to purposely create it with a last minute picnic run to the park.

Happy Sunday everyone.

Erica xo