Lessons Learned

Some days are more productive than others. 

…Which is not to say that today I washed, dried, or folded the laundry giving me dirty looks throughout my house, weeded the flowerbeds that might soon climb up the walls, windows and doors of my home like a horror film, or cleaned the floors and bathrooms that I’m curse under my breath countless times a day.  No, I did none of those.  However, I learned a few things today.

For instance,

1.  Those awesome squeezable mayonnaise containers that boast “none left in the bottle” are not lying.  Be careful how much you squeeze, because you can’t take the mayo out of the chicken salad as easily as you can put it in.

2. I really must remember not to make chicken salad, prepare two girlies’ lunches, eat my own delicious chicken salad pita lunch, and clean the kitchen between showering and drying/styling my hair.  It’s a recipe for a bad hair day.

3. Flies are much easier to swat the day after they sneak in through the sliding glass door.  They’re hungry and weak…and more susceptible to my ninja-like swatting abilities.

3. The word is out about $5 movies on Sunday at our local theater.  Get there early.

4. Teach your children about the value of siblings.  Tell them, openly, that one day, they will be the closest person they have left.  Remind them that siblings are a gift to be treasured, not an inconvenience and a hassle to be tolerated.

5. Never take your children’s words too seriously.  One minute, they will swear they hate each other, vow that they will never forgive or play together again, and proclaim that they wish that evil sister had never been born…and the next minute you will find them cozied up together, “teaching” each other to read, giggling and cooing at pictures of baby animals.

6. Last, but not least, I’m reminded today, once again, that life is a fragile and fleeting miracle.  We have no guarantees.  Tomorrow could be stolen from us far faster than my ninja skills steal it from dehydrated flies in my kitchen. 

In all seriousness, I told my girlies today, “You’ll never know when you’ll never see someone again.  Tell them you love them and treat them like a gift you cherish every day.” 

And never, ever lose sight of that truth. 

 

Thinking of Baby Amelia and my long lost friend, Jen, today.  I love you both.