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 something to be grateful for each day isn’t about trying to give the impression that life is perfect and wonderful. It isn’t. Those little moments of gratitude can be hard to find at times; particularly after my eldest daughter Jessica died in April 2018. Some days, I struggle to find my grateful moment; some days I just feel broken and bruised. But even when it has been hard to do, I have still managed to find something. Even if it is something small, and silly, and trivial.
Jessica 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 47 – I am grateful for a lovely afternoon at my mum’s house catching up with my family.
Day 48 – I am grateful that Sophie enjoyed her first swimming lesson.
Day 49 – I am grateful for a fun day at Kidzania with Halo Children’s Foundation.
Day 50 – I am grateful for family changing rooms with baby seats that made taking both children swimming by myself for the first time much easier to manage.
Day 51 – I am grateful for how entertaining seeing the fish at the garden centre can be – especially when you get to feed them too!
Day 52 – I am grateful that Sophie enjoyed learning a little more about birds of Prey and holding and stroking some owls and a hawk at the Birds of Prey encounter.
Day 53 – I am grateful for help at church with watching Sophie and Thomas so I could do the flowers.
Sounds like you’ve had a great week xxx
It was a good one, thank you x
Well done Sophie for stroking that owl, I thought it was wooden for a second! #366
She was so fearless with them! It was lovely watching her 🙂
Such a lovely week. Busy too. Those flowers are gorgeous, what a great job xxx
Thank you, I really like doing the flower arrangements at church 🙂
sounds like Sophie has had a lovely week of activities. You did a lovely job arranging the flowers
Thank you, I enjoy doing it 🙂
an outdoor swimming pool at this time of year is not my idea of fun, so well braved Sophie.
Love the happy smiley face in the first picture.
Our council only allow 1 to 1 when swimming with children under 10.
Oh I just took the photo by the outdoor pool – the lessons were in the indoor one! That outdoor pool is the coldest one I’ve ever been in; I’m not sure I’d even brave it in the summer. I can why you’d restrict under 10s to 1 to 1 although it does make it more difficult to take children swimming if you have a larger family.
It sounds like a really lovely week with a lot of happy moments. My two used to love a trip to the garden centre to see the fish x
Seeing the fish at the garden centre is always a favourite activity for us 🙂
Such lovely photos again this week. I’m glad Sophie enjoyed her swimming lesson. Those little seats in changing rooms are so useful!
They certainly are – makes it much easier trying to juggle both the children on my own if I can strap Thomas into the seat once he’s dressed!
The birds of prey visit looks fun. I carried an owl on my shoulder once and loved it. Sounds like you enjoyed half term.
It was a lovely half-term. Sophie loved being able to hold the owls.
A busy week! Glad Sophie enjoyed her first swimming lesson! Bee has been going for a few weeks now and loves it!
Love that picture of her stroking an owl!
We have a garden centre where you can feed the fish too and the kids love it
It’s lovely to see her improving with her swimming. Glad Bee enjoys it too. I love how feeding the fish is so much fun for kids 🙂
Sounds like such a lovely week. We love Kidzania. That owl photo is fabulous!
Sophie loved Kidzania too and it was lovely to watch her holding the owls.
I love those special seats for children but have never used one! Birds of prey including owls are so amazing and a little bit scary! #project366
They’re so useful – I always try and get the changing rooms that have them if I’m on my own now with the children. The birds of prey were amazing to see up close and I loved how fearless Sophie was.