At the start of 2016, inspired by a friend, I started a daily gratitude challenge – posting one thing that I was thankful for each day on Instagram. I enjoyed it so much that when I reached the end of that year, I carried on and have kept going ever since. Finding one little thing to be thankful for each day has now become part of my daily routine and I’ve loved seeing friends joining in along the way too.
Finding little things to be grateful for isn’t always easy, especially when living through scary and uncertain times. I have found though that trying to find something, however small and trivial, to be grateful for has helped me through some of the hardest days of my life.
My eldest daughter Jessica, who died in April 2018, was an inspiration to me throughout her short life. She had so much strength and such a wonderful zest for life. Her godmother described her once as a “joy carrier” and it was the perfect description for her. She was a little ray of sunshine, full of smiles and gave joy to all who knew her. I am, and will always be, grateful to be her mummy. She taught me to enjoy the little moments and to make the most of everyday because tomorrow is never promised. And even though having to live life without Jessica is by far the hardest thing I have ever had to do, I will continue to look for those little things to be thankful for, and keep going with this challenge in honour of my beautiful brave girl.
Here are my grateful moments from the past week:
Day 96 – I am grateful that Thomas seems to be absolutely fine today after falling over and bashing his forehead on the corner of the stairs last night.
Day 97 – I am grateful that my husband managed to fix the oven so that we could bake our salt dough creations.
Day 98 – I am grateful for bamboo sticks and old sheets.
Day 99 – I am grateful for a lovely surprise Easter box that was delivered to Sophie and Thomas today. Sophie was thrilled and wanted to share some of the contents with her friends so we had the pleasure of dropping off packages and her being able to wave and say hello from a distance at her friends too.
Day 100 – I am grateful that I was organised this year with Easter crafts and bought all the bits for Easter bonnet making several weeks ago. Sophie had fun making her Easter bonnet and created this beauty all by herself.
Day 101 – I am grateful for Sophie’s help in blasting the aphids off the rose bushes. She’s also actively looking for ladybirds to put on the roses and help keep those pesky green bugs at bay.
Day 102 – I am grateful for the latest additions to my garden from friends and family to let us know that they are thinking of us and remembering Jessica with love.
Well done on being so well organised for Easter – looks like you have been having a special Easter at home.
Thank you, we had a nice one overall.
Awww I love your little aphid-buster – too cute ! You’ve had loads of great activities this week. Ouch, poor Thomas – glad he’s OK xx
Thank you – he’s healing very nicely!
Lovely set of photos. Nice that you were able to share Sophie’s easter box of goodies.
Thank you – I loved that she wanted to share them.
What lovely photos!
I am glad Thomas is OK after his bump.
Aww! How good to get an Easter box delivered and how kind of Sophie to want to give some to her friends. x
Thank you, it was so lovely that she wanted to share.
What a relief that Thomas was OK after his accident. That photo of the two of them hugging is so sweet! How lovely of Sophie to want to share her treats with her friends.
Such a relief and thankfully that cut looks like it is healing well.
I love the den and the easter bonnet. Hope Thomas is fully recovered now from banging his head. What lovely decorations in the garden for Jessica
Thank you – the cut is mostly healed now.
Well done on being so organised for Easter, that is impressive. I hope Thomas is doing ok after his bump on the head xx
Thank you, he is fine and the cut is healing beautifully.
What a kind lovely thing to do to give some Easter fun to her friends. Glad to hear Thomas is okay after his bump. I really need to make some salt dough for our lockdown handprints, thank you for he reminder. Good idea on the water blaster might get the boys to do the same! xx
The water blaster was quite effective at knocking the aphids off and Sophie had fun doing it!
Glad to hear little man is ok after his head bump, that is always worrying. Lovely to hear that you shared your easter box too
Thanks Kara, he was fine and it’s mostly healed now so that’s good.
I have never made salt dough before but am seeing lots of locksown activities so might give it a try! The Easter box looks like such a lovely surprise #project366
It was the first time I’d ever made it too and it was easy to make although drying it in the oven took longer than I was expecting it to.
Wooaah, I’m glad Thomas is alright. OoOo baking! Cute tent. That looks like a fun-filled Easter. Thats very sweet of your friends to remember Jessica with so much passion
Thank you – it was lovely that they remembered her.
Oh glad Thomas was ok! Love that tent they have..so cute. Never tried making salt dough creations!
Thank you. It was the first time we’d made them and we enjoyed it 🙂