Yesterday I kept oscillating between believing it was a really good day and feeling like it was awful.
Good: We’ve had between 10-20 store orders per day over the last four days. This is very happy because it helps fund Christmas.
Bad: Discovering I made a couple of accounting errors which may affect some business partners. I’ve already fessed up and no one seems mad at me, but I don’t like letting other people down.
Good: Getting all of the shipping and accounting done in one day. Bills all paid with change left for the next round of bills.
Bad: Receiving a call from Link’s teacher because he can’t wrap his head around writing a paragraph about Thanksgiving break. The work gets sent home.
Good: Remembering to take Gleek to gymnastics on schedule. We forgot last week and it was a tragedy.
Sad: Hearing bad news about a neighbor’s relative.
Good: Having a pile of neighbor’s kids all over at the house at once. There was joyous chaos. It makes me happy to have neighbors who know they can send their kids to me and to whom I know I can send my kids.
Bad: Forcing Link through his mental block about the Thanksgiving paragraph. Also realizing that we aren’t doing enough to help him grow in the ways that he needs to.
Good: Once the block was breached, Link finished the assignment on his own very quickly.
Bad: My lower back started hurting mid afternoon and did not stop. I’ve no idea what triggered it.
Good: All the kids ate dinner without complaining even though the meal was based in cheese macaroni and tuna fish.
Bad: It was one of those evenings where some one gets hurt every two minutes or so. No sooner do we calm one set of tears when another wail emerges. The only solution was to get them all into bed.
Good: The advent candle that Howard’s sister brought to us. We burned through Dec 1st while reading bedtime stories.
Good: The kids have been much better about helping clean lately. This is largely due to Howard. The house is cleaner and the kids are happier/more confident because they can see how they are contributing to the household.
Good: Rearranging some of the chore/education patterns in our household so that they are more functional, and more evenly spread across both parents. This process is ongoing. Our task assignments are always shifting around as the patterns of our lives shift. Usually the life patterns shift first and it takes us awhile to figure out that task assignments need to be adjusted to match. Last night we identified a couple of small shifts that will make a big difference.
So the day had more good in it than bad, but I’m hoping today contains more steady-state good rather than swinging back and forth.
I’ve heard of advent calendars, but never an advent candle. what an intriguing idea.
You just take a long candle and paint the numbers 1-24 down the side. Then each night you burn through the number for that day. This is the first year we’ve had one, but I like it enough that I’ll probably do it again next year.
The Brown Daily Herald does a weekly column like this, titled “Diamonds and Coal”. Lists good and bad things, just like you did. It’s surprisingly useful on a personal level to see exactly how good a day/week/year went.
(by the way, something in the middle is a cubic zirconium, just because)
I counted: the good out numbered the bad. That’s a win however you look at it. I was also reminded this past week that the bad can be good too, if it means time spent with those you care about.
I would have to question the sanity of your children if they DID complain. That sounds yummy, and kindly ask you come make me some, pretty please.* 🙂
*Note: But I understand if you decline my request. 😉
Yes it is very useful. Even on bad days I can usually find enough good to feel better.
True.
Trust me. It would not ship well.
Thus why I asked for you to come make it. 🙂
S’ok though. You got that whole “family” and “business” thing to see to. *grins*