Tag Archives: kids

happiness

She’s a really good person

I drove home one of the girl’s friends this afternoon after their sleepover. My daughter has worked hard to very purposefully pick out kind, thoughtful, fun friends. As this girl got out of my car she said thank you for having me over. I really like spending time with Jenna -she’s a really good person. 

In these teen years that are so filled with uncertainty, drama, and angst for girls I thought how wonderful it is that she’s also got such good friends who not only see but bring out the best in each other. That is a gift that will last her a lifetime. That is happiness.

And I completely agree. She is a really good person.

My gratitude:

the special souls who provide me with a safe place to land

My Drishti

My sister and the strength we draw from each other.

 

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It’s a girl party

The girl is having her sleepover party to celebrate becoming 13. She has purposefully and carefully selected her friends – she’s slowly building her tribe. I love having a house full of kids. It makes me happy that they want to be here and on glad we can all celebrate this awesome girl. Happiness.

Gratitude :

Quiet time with the boy

Giggling girls

Free baklava

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And now she’s a teen

My baby girl turned 13 today. I have no idea how she went from the little girl wearing a tutu and playing in the mud to this smart, beautiful young lady- but here we are.

I am so incredibly proud of her and consider her to be one of my greatest blessings.

Her day began as the boy and I sang happy birthday loudly and badly to her. It ended at our 4H meeting with the club having a pizza and cake celebration for her (singing was better this time).

And now she’s in a different phase of life. I know she’ll navigate this with love, grace, and determination – the same way she has approached everything so far in life.

The years I’ve spent being her mom have been some of the happiest of my life.

It has been suggested by my awesome friend and mentor Asrael that I choose three things every day for the next month to be grateful for. So today for day 1 they are:

1. I am grateful for Jenna

2. I am grateful for this safe and loving house in which we live

3. I am grateful for my tribe.

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Never seen you so happy

Keeping with my commitment to look after myself, I got up early this morning and did my morning pages and meditated before the kids got up. For the last few months instead of getting up and doing my morning routine I’ve been lying in bed for an extra hour thinking about how tired I am.

It left me feeling really good and I had a very productive morning which felt amazing. I treated myself after by spending time with my boy

I feel like we are putting the pieces back together and hopefully in the next few days I’m riding again.

When I picked up the kids from school the girl looked at me and said

You know mom, I’ve never seen you so happy as you’ve been since you got Drishti.

I’ve realized this is the first time they’ve seen me like this. I’m not living the dream of someone else – I’m following my dharma, using the gifts that God gave me, doing things that make my soul sing.

I’ve made big changes in my life and the kids have supported me every step of the way. The happier I am, the more I give to myself, the more I have to give them and everyone else. And that’s the point of this happiness journey after all.

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Walking the line

My baby girl becomes a teenager in a few days. I don’t know how she went from the sassy little girl holding my hand to this sassy young lady avoiding my hand in the blink of an eye – but here we are.

She’s an awesome human being

I took her out for a special girls night to celebrate her upcoming birthday – supper and then a movie of her choice. I figured I’d be stuck watching some awful teen drama. Instead though, we went and watched Ferdinand- because underneath the mascara and flipped hair she’s still the little girl who loves animals.

And I love her and spending time with her. I am honoured that she still wants to spend time with me. It’s happiness.

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It’s not Pony Club

My kids have joined the 4H club in our community. It’s something completely different for me as I grew up in Pony Club, but already I’m loving what this club has to offer. Today they took the kids up to Norquay and they went sledding – after what felt like months of being trapped in the house due to inhuman temperatures we all have a bit of cabin fever and it was good to get them out of the house for a bit.

Yesterday I spent some time thinking about the games Mr. X is playing with the lives of the kids. He is so far behind in his support payments its not a joke, it’s not funny, it’s affecting the lives of the kids on a daily basis. Then moments like today happen and I realize that the kids are being held in the arms of love – both here with their tribe and from Above. It doesn’t make those problems go away, but it makes the power of his hate have less effect. That is the goal for this year – to rid our house and our lives of his hatred and his attempts at fear-making. It hangs there, the lack of payment not only hurts financially but it causes them emotional pain. But his ability to make us afraid, that is getting weaker and weaker all the time. It coincides with our ability to walk in love and peace more and more.

I got to get some work done, have a car visit with my sister, and bug my horse a little bit today – all things that make my soul smile with happiness.

Things are changing. It’s time.

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Birth sister/soul sister

Today was a day that had a lot of anxiety attached to it right from the start. It’s so frustrating to get anxious about things that we can’t change, but sometimes that happens, sometimes (always) things are out of our control, sometimes life is scary.

However as I started this day, I was walking across our yard and noticed the beautiful full moon hanging over the mountains, barely visible through the trees. I love Alberta – I love it much more now that it’s not -50C, but it’s home, and it’s where my people are.

I had a really good quiet moment with my sister this morning. Both our lives are busy and even when we are together usually there’s kids and chaos – which is all good but sometimes it’s important to stop and really check in with each other, and I feel like we did that today. It was much needed and appreciated.

This evening I did much the same thing with my soul sister. We shared supper and stories, laughs and heartaches – she has been a huge support for me through my divorce and all the fallout from that and I’m forever grateful.

I feel like we have created a culture where independence is celebrated – where needing someone is a sign of weakness and we are supposed to be brave and strong all alone all the time. It’s not how I can function. I need my tribe, I wouldn’t have been able to pick myself up and be building a new life for the kids and I if I didn’t have the unconditional love and support from my people. That is happiness.

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The last word

I come from a pretty competitive family – game nights were pretty serious events and although I hadn’t planned on it, this is a trait to have passed onto my children. And we can turn anything into a competition.

Tonight it was who has the last word with the boy and I. We were about to watch a tv show together and we ended up in a “game” of who has the last word.

It went on for over an hour. After several distractions and false promises I finally won (the boy insists he did, but it’s my blog so it ends my way).

These small moments of giggles make for big happiness

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The Last Jedi

We had our annual cousin Star Wars night this evening. Every year for the last few years my cousin and her family have given me and the kids tickets as our Christmas present and we all go together to IMAX. Our almost adult boys have been playing, enjoying, and loving Star Wars since they were in diapers.

I won’t spoil it, but I thought it was a really funny movie.

The take away line for me was this:

I’ve been working in that direction but it’s time to eradicate the evil force from our lives.

Cousin time. Star Wars time. Happiness time.

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