Mother's Day Attitude Adjustment

I've noticed a wierd thing over the past three or four Mother's Days.

I help out.

D. will try to get the boys up and running, make me breakfast, and get himself ready for church...but kinda sorta doesn't think about things (like the fact that the church pants and shirts need to be ironed....or dried, or the tithe check filled out, or the activity backpack needs to be filled and cleaned out, or that lunch meat needs to be thawed, or Molly fed, or clean socks matched, etc.) and how they fit into the Sunday morning routine.

Each year, I could totally sit on the sidelines with a snarky smile on my face watching him struggle with activities that I do all the time without thinking.  I could totally, and with justification, take the morning "off."

But this morning (like every other Mother's Day mornings), there I was, elbow deep in the drier trying to find C's church pants, running back in to grab the tithe envelope, and wrestling C. while I try to clip is fingernails after his shower.  I even made C. some banana applesauce pancakes with (6) chocolate chips because I knew that he wouldn't eat the eggs and sausage my husband made me for breakfast.

What was different about this morning?

I wanted to help.

It wasn't expected of me to pitch in like that.

But I wanted to.

Each year, I find myself thinking, "I know I don't have to do this, but I want to help."

Why can't I think this way every other 364 days of the year?

My friend, Michelle, just posted an interesting thing on her facebook about being grateful.

And how sometimes it doesn't matter what we do, but our attitude in how we do it.

She challenged us to make "I get to" lists instead of "To-do" lists.

I didn't have to get C's church pants out of the drier and iron them.

I get to help my husband out and grab C's pants and iron them.

I don't have to work, I get to work.

I don't have to do laundry, I get to do laundry.

I started doing this for the past few days, and it's really made a difference!

So, today, while I know I can justify doing a lot of nothing....I get to help out.

And tomorrow, I get to help out.

And the next day, I get to do lots of other fun things too.  Even if they're small...I get to do them.

Hopefully today will mark the beginning of a much more grateful, and helpful mom for my boys.