Little things turned Big

Here it is the last day of November, my little girl is now 7 and my little boy turns 4 on Sunday! Where does the time go? Every day I try really hard to focus on something positive, something wonderful, something that warms my heart. I try to be present with my kids, it doesn't happen all the time and most days it is small, too small in fact, blips of time. As I sit here at the computer, later than I should on a school night, I have a goal to jot down a few of those wonderful, heart warming positive things I have seen while being present recently.

1. My little girl has a big heart! She was excited for her teacher to return to school this week, on Sunday during our prayers before bed, she asked that we pray not only for Ms. Myers to be healthy enough to return to school but also for Ms. Perry the substitute to be okay since she won't be in there class when Ms. Myers returns. My girl is patient and kind to others especially her little brother. After a morning of non-stop playing with her little brother,  I hear her say "Andre, can I take a break from playing for a little bit?" She is hoping to temper his potential outburst of anger and sadness.
2. My sweet girl's toothless grin is beautiful and makes me smile. Waving good-bye as her and daddy drove off to school yesterday morning warmed my heart. Her in the backseat waving and signing I Love You with that sweet toothless smile made me pause as I turned to go back in the house and say Thank you God for sharing her with us!
3. My little man is the sweetest little boy I know! My sweet boy, saves a bite of donut for his Mommy and his Sister when him and Daddy hit Dunkin Donuts on the way to school. He gets a juice for his sister when he gets one for himself, even when she isn't home. He worries what Daddy will eat if we eat dinner without him. He is sad if his sister leaves for school before he wakes and can give her a hug.
4. My little man melts my heart! Here are a few ways:  He says, "Mommy, your pretty" out of the blue and on days that I don't feel so pretty. He still curls up into a ball and snuggles, he gives big hugs as he heads off to start his school day or if I am taking off for a run or a trip to the store. And tonight as I lay with him in his bed while he fell asleep, he leans into me for a kiss on his forehead. He has done that since he was a tiny baby. Moments before, I was getting impatient that he wasn't falling asleep, thinking of my "to do" list. But that gesture, made me stop once again, take in that moment and again I thought, Thank you God for sharing him with us!

Strange how we can dwell on the negative, drown ourselves in sadness so easily when something isn't going the way we planned, become overwhelmed with the "to do list". It is so easy to get caught up in the little things that don't matter - and so easy to miss the little things that do matter. Why is it so hard to slow down and notice the little things that have such BIG impact?

My goal for the 2010 Holiday Season: I am going to try to not get caught up in the little stuff that doesn't matter and focus on those little things that are much bigger, better and far more important. I am not one for New Year Resolutions, so I won't call it that, lets say my Personal Goal for 2011 is to make a full effort to bring a simplified., low stress,  in the moment focus on the little things that matter not the little things that do not matter attitude into 2011. So for now I must get some sleep!

Wish me luck, and pray I accomplish my goal for me, but more importantly for my sweet and wonderful kids and for my husband.