Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Even Optimists Get The Blues, Right?

Yesterday I had sort of a blah day. It started when I woke up at 5:30 to the sound of my cat puking on my comforter, the comforter which I had just washed the day before to get out the remnants of the last time he puked on it, last week. Nothing like starting off your day cleaning a hairball of your bed, is there? Then there was the the crossing guard at oldest son's school who, I think, mistook me for a sixth grader, and then proceeded to yell at me for walking across the crosswalk without him. He yelled something like "Kid, you need to wait for me." At which point I yelled something back, like "I'm an adult. Thanks. I know how to cross the street." I didn't help that it also felt like it was 800 degrees outside and I felt like I was dying of heatstroke.

It was honestly the first time I felt like I had a "bad day" since I've started this whole optimism thing. When I sat down last night to write about it, it kind of surprised me. Is it true that even optimists have bad days?

I was contemplating all this when oldest son, seemingly out of the blue turned to me and asked me the question every parent dreads having to answer. He wanted to know how babies were made. Remember, he's only in kindergarten, so I fumbled through some general information about women growing babies in their stomachs. Yes, he said, but how do the babies get in there? I fumbled some more, and at every turn he asked more how/what/why questions. Until finally I told him that mommies had eggs like Charlotte in Charlotte's Web and that they could turn into babies sometimes. That seemed to satisfy him because he then turned to my husband and asked how houses were made. I watched my husband breathe a sigh of relief that he'd gotten the easy question. So not fair.

Then oldest son went to bed, and as I sat down to dissect my crappy day and my possibly even crappier explanation of the miracle of life, I thought about the fact that it seemed like older child was just born, and here he was, asking so many questions. It's not just houses and babies. This morning, he wanted to know what Earth was like before dinosaurs and where the first dinosaur came from. Yesterday, he wanted to know what the Earth was like before it had buildings and how thunder and lightening exist. More often than not, I find myself Googling to get him answers now. And in his questions, I start to see the world fresh again, through the eyes of someone with wonder and curiosity. This is a very good thing. This made me smile.

What makes you smile at the end of a bad day?

7 comments:

  1. Any type of blooper stuff can usually get me going.

    Mr. X and a few others recently introduced me to the Double Rainbow Song. Look it up on youtube if you haven't already.

    There are so many great sources for humor on the internet that you forget about when you are down. I always use twitter to force people to cheer me up too.

    Have a divine day!

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  2. This is my blog on Empowering Parents about the birds and bees:
    http://www.empoweringparents.com/blog/health-nutrition-safety/teaching-kids-about-the-birds-and-the-bees/#more-3363

    My older son is turning 5 soon and asks the craziest questions sometimes. I love the curiosity of children!

    As for the happy thing at the end of a long day...if Adam Lambert's latest song makes it into the top 5 at 5 on our local radio station, all my stress melts away. :) Of course, seeing my kids do something cute helps too.

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  3. Lol! Aren't cats the best pets?! What makes me smile? This month it's my new writer friend that sits beside me all day, every day: Pumpkin Spiced Latte!

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  4. On the bright side, you must look young since the crossing guard mistook you for a kid. WORK IT! ;)

    OMG, your sons are too cute for words! LOL, but you're right. So not fair that your husband got the easy question.

    What makes me happy at the end of a bad day is cooking and eating. Cooking relaxes me, and eating comforts me. :)

    Hmmm...the best thing about my job are the people I work with. They're so funny, sometimes it doesn't feel like work.

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  5. Ha! I look young, but not *that* young. I love cooking and eating, too!

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  6. Ok, so I'm catching up. Been so busy with other stuff I haven't had a chance to read your blogs for a little while. :(
    I'm lucky, my daughter is the same age as your oldest son and I haven't gotten the baby question yet. I'm dreading it for sure though. (That's not very optimistic, is it?)
    What can make me smile at the end of a bad day depends on what made the bad day. Usually, it's my daughter that can make me smile, but if she's the source (DRAMA QUEEN!!!)...it's gonna take something else. :)

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