little bumps

As I sit here, the clock reads 11:50pm and a couple of die-hard pyromamiacs are shooting their last few, brilliant rockets into the night sky.  For a bit of inspiration (and probably more so because I'm pregnant), I whipped up a bowl of Easy Mac.  Comfort food seems to bring out the writer in me... or at least that's the effect it's having tonight.

So, today I was grumpy... how's that for a jolly Fourth of July post?  I was happy that it was a holiday and I was super happy that I actually got the day off of work (our hospital celebrates very few holidays throughout the year).  I'm not sure if I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, or if I just had insanely-high (Clark Griswaldian) expectations for our family's Independence Day celebrations.  Whatever the case, try as I might, the little bumps in life's road seemed insurmountable at times today and thus, I was not a little ray of sunshine.   At one point, I sort of complained about one of those little bumps to a wise friend, who simply said "let it go... just write it down in your journal".

Some of those bumps were not being able to balance child duties with duties at our ward breakfast (temporarily losing child - horrid); child playing in a big, muddy ditch (not such a big deal until I got closer and it smelled like raw sewage, in which he was covered); nearly-naked child running into potential oncoming traffic (lost it here - not proud); losing phone and wasting HOURS trying to find it; etc.  The list could go on, but there's really no need.  The bottom line is that I had very little patience for those little bumps and lost my composure entirely too often; here I sit, not proud of my reactions.

But, there is a happy ending to that story.  On the other side of those bumps, I've found some lessons learned.  And that's why we're here, right?  I learned that a precocious & curious child is what I have - and although those two characteristics drive me mad at times, they are traits that I also adore... and which make him, him.  I learned that losing a phone gives you Time: time to think, time to listen, time to be in the moment.  I learned I need to put my phone down - on purpose - more often.  I also learned that I have a husband who is willing to dig through the most horribly awful mounds of garbage, searching for my phone (which was not there) because he loves me.  I learned that technology is one minute your enemy and then another, your ally.  I learned that playing in mud, super stinky and sticky, was probably the highlight of my son's day.  And I learned that sometimes - sometimes, those bumps in the road are there - not to irritate, but to teach you valuable lessons that will help you deal with those future bumps that have yet to come into view.