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 215 – I am grateful that the children had fun picking blackberries and plums in Grandma and Grandad’s garden.
Day 216 – I am grateful for early mornings in the garden watching the children play together while I sit and have a cup of tea. Such a lovely way to start the day.
Day 217 – I am grateful for a “nic-nic” (as Thomas calls it) and a lovely walk around Chiltern Open Air Museum.
Day 218 – I am grateful for the way Sophie chats away to Jessica when we visit her at her forever bed. She was telling her today about what class she will be in next year and about all the little things she and Thomas have been doing. That beautiful bond they shared is still there.
Day 219 – I am grateful for gorgeous reversible outfits – especially ones that come with matching hats! Shout-out today for one of my favourite children’s clothes brands Seesaw Children’s Clothes. Sophie absolutely loves her new dress. Thomas also has some lovely new reversible dungarees too. (This isn’t an ad – I bought the clothes and just wanted to give a shout-out to a small brand that I love because they are amazing).
Day 220 – I am grateful for a paddling pool in the shade.
Day 221 – I am grateful for pre-loved toys. Sophie was very happy with her new LOL dolls.
It looks like the kids have had lots of fun in the garden. What lovely photos x
Thanks Kim, we’ve been making the most of it!
Love the dress (both sides). It’s been paddling pool sort of weather hasn’t it? I love it.
Thank you – yes definitely paddling pool weather at the moment.
It’s great to see the kids having so much fun in the sun. Lovely that Sophie still has such a close bond to Jessica too. 🙂
I love that she still has that bond even though Jessica isn’t here and that she still likes to tell her sister about the things she’s been doing.
Lovely that Sophie talks so openly to her big sister. I’m thinking of finally going to Chiltern Open Air Museum when I’m off at the end of the month (I know I’ve been saying that for years!) Looks like the kids have had a lovely week #366
Hope you do manage to make it there. You can’t go inside the buildings at the moment but you can still look inside and it’s still a lovely day out even with the current restrictions.
Lovely weather and great photos of the kids, love those reversible outfits. I love a good ‘nic nic’
Thank you – can’t beat a good ‘nic nic’ 🙂
You can’t beat preloved toys, especially when they grow out of them so fast. Lovely to hear about Sophie’s chats with Jessica.
We buy most of our toys preloved now and it also means you don’t have to deal with ridiculous packaging!
OoOoo picking blackberries sounds like fun! They look cute playing together. The bond between Sophie and Jessica is so mature and amazing. The dresses look beautiful. Aww I miss paddling pools. Cute dolls
Thank you – I do love that the bond between Sophie and Jessica is still very much there even though Jessica is no longer here with us.
Some lovely pictures this week! Love all the colour and those reversible dresses are lovely!
Thank you 🙂
We’ve been thinking of visiting that museum so I’ll get on and arrange it! Gorgeous dresses, we haven’t got any reversible ones 🙁 #project366
It’s a lovely place for a day out. Reversible dresses are brilliant – Sophie has a few (plus some reversible skirts, shorts and trousers) and loves them.
Can’t wait to go blackberry picking and make some jam! Love plums too. Sophie’s dress is lovely it’s so pretty and the fact it’s reversible is really clever.
Ooh I never think to make jam with them. Maybe I should give it a try 🙂
Those dresses are super cute, she looks gorgeous. I love that she chats to her sister at her foreverbed
Thanks Kara. It is lovely to listen to her chat to Jessica.
That’s fab you have blackberries and plums to pick in your children’s grandparents garden. My dad has a little veg patch and the boys always love digging for potatoes. I wish I had something tasty growing in my garden (sadly its mainly weeds!). The reversible clothes sound so unique, what a lovely idea.
I can imagine helping dig for potatoes is fun. We’ve been trying to grow some veg this year but our harvest is very small so far.
I love the dress, so lovely. It’s not been paddling pool sort of weather here, but it is always good when you can get it out x
Thank you – it was nice to get the paddling pool out.