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 194 – I am grateful for our first family day out in five months!
Day 195 – I am grateful for sleepy snuggles while sitting outside in the garden.
Day 196 – I am grateful for free flowers thanks to a friend passing on a promo code.
Day 197 – I am grateful that Sophie and Thomas were so tolerant of a busy day for me with trying to juggle Zoom meetings and childcare with hubby being out for most of the day. Admittedly they had more screen time than I would normally be happy with but we’ve had some fun outside too; they’ve been happy and I’ve managed to do what I needed to do too.
Day 198 – I am grateful that the children are able to enjoy the playground again.
Day 199 – I am grateful that (home)-school’s out for the summer and that this little lady has coped so well with a term and a bit of home school.
Day 200 – I am grateful for sand.
Lovely photos. I am glad that you got to have a day out. It looks like the kids have been having a lot of fun x
Thanks Kim, they’ve been enjoying having time together 🙂
Glad you managed a day out. The children seem to have been having plenty of fun in the garden too.
They love getting outside to play and it’s nice to be able to venture a bit further afield now.
How lovely to finally get a family day out! I am very impressed that children as young as Sophie and Thomas can keep themselves entertained while you work. Sophie suddenly looks very grown up in her end of year 1 photo.
Thanks Sarah. I do a lot of work sitting out in the garden on my laptop watching them playing together. They are very good at entertaining each other!
Such lovely photos. I’m glad that you got to have a day out. It looks like the kids have been having a lot of fun x
The sand pit looks a lot of fun. Hope you enjoyed your family day out
Thank you, we had a lovely day 🙂
So lovely that you had a day out! Love the photo of Sophie and Thomas together, was she tickling him? The flowers are very pretty. My younger one loved a sandpit in the garden.
I’m also glad the home-schooling is over for now, it was lots of work.
She was tickling him! Home-schooling was a lot of work – I have to admit I’m glad it’s over for now too!
Nice to get back to the park.
I don’t think the odd day on screens does much long term harm when needs arise.
Love the garden snuggles, best feeling of all as they lay their helpless totally secure in the knowledge they are loved.
It is such a lovely feeling. I’m making the most of those snuggles – it won’t be too long before they start to dwindle.
It is so tricky trying to Zoom with kids in the background! Mine have had more screentime than ideal 🙁 I am so glad homeschooling is done! #project366
It is tricky – thankfully most of the people I’ve had Zoom meetings with are okay with the interruptions that come with having to juggle childcare at the same time.
Aww glad you managed to get a day out after so long!
The flowers look lovely!
Thank you, it was so good to get out for the day 🙂
Sounds like a lovely week. Glad you got a day out, seems like so long ago when we saw you at the Tutankhamun thing in London before this all kicked off.
Lovely flowers too!
Thanks Karen. The Tutankhamun day out seems like a very long time ago now, doesn’t it?
What a bonus getting free flowers, very kind of your friend! Glad you managed to get out for the day, I think a change of scene is very welcome right now. I need to venture to a playground I think my boys have missed them too.
Free flowers are always lovely! Having a change of scene was definitely much-needed 🙂
I am grateful for the end of homeschool too and the juggling act is real here as well!! Its been so tricky, we have also relied on tech more than usual its just the way it has to be sometimes. I hope you manage to get some relaxing time during the Summer holidays x
It is tricky to juggle everything – thank goodness home schooling is one less thing to add to the equation now!
I was grateful that school was out, until the kids came home with loads of work to do :/ – I love flowers in the house and they are even better when they are free
Ah coming home with loads of work is not so good!
Awww so nice to have a family day today. Cute snuggles. The flowers look beautiful. Sophie and Thomas looks adorable
Thank you. It was so nice to get out as a family again 🙂