Thankful September

Gratitude is the best medicine. It heals your mind, your body, and your spirit.

September was not as bad as the previous months for me. It helped me to focus on what is more important at present. Though things are not back to the normal, I am glad I started to work towards it.  In this whole process of rediscovering and maintaining peace with the surroundings, I am thankful for many little things here and there.

• The month started with a long weekend, so we planned to go on a very short trip to Chicago. This staycation was a much-needed break for all of us including the little one.  Two days stay plus some entertainment is all we needed to refresh ourselves.  I am glad that we three could spend our early morning at the lakeshore when the city is still silent and the timing was perfect as it was just before the fall.

• My girl turned six this month. See the kids are growing up very fast. This time we had a simple birthday party at our clubhouse minus all my DIY’s. Though there was not much decor work, we couldn’t start the party on time, Maybe it was because of no proper planning or as it was on a weekday, We were late by almost an hour and it was embarrassing. The good thing about the party was that the kids had fun in their own way including the birthday girl.

• Nowadays I am not accompanying my daughter to the play area. I want her to go alone, make friends and be more responsible. The first few days were tough for both of us as we are not used to all this, but slowly she learned to go on her own. Though we keep an eye on her, she is enjoying her freedom to explore the new things in her own way.

• Finally, we removed the training wheels of her cycle. I was surprised to see that she was able to ride without much difficulty. Though she tried only one day, I know within a few trials she will master the balance.

• Due to her school schedules, we three are now early risers. Our day begins with devotional songs in the background. Though that one hour schedule is super hectic, these songs help us to remain calm. The best part about this is my girl started loving them and hums these songs whenever she recollects them.

• To make my story sessions more interesting, I invited parents to come over and take over the session once a month. Last week was one such day and I was surprised to see that the session went on really well. I am thankful to E for taking out time for us. The snack lists for the next two months is also sorted. Thanks to all the moms who are always ready to make these sessions more eventful. Without you moms, all these would not have been possible, so a BIG THANKYOU. After a very long time, I am glad that I am including crafts as activities for the storytime.  I am happy that I am able to manage all these with little help.

• This month I went on a lunch date with hubby minus the baby. It was only two of us, unplanned, all of sudden and just like that.  If I am not wrong this is our first time in the past seven years without her. We missed her during the lunch but once in a while is it ok.
• This month we ladies went out for lunch as well as shopping . This time it was without kids. I rarely do shopping because I hardly find my size clothing . But this time with just an hour of shopping I could find a good collection of my size that too within my budget. Thanks to S for taking us out.

• Officially our summer is over and Fall is here. This time my summer was super short due to India trip. So, I am missing Summer badly especially when the temperatures have dropped terribly last week. But the good thing is that I love FALL colors. I always loved the idea of taking family photos during fall. Lets me see if this works out this season.

• Remember the days when we( both of us) used to read books daily, do/ write our daily gratitude?  After our India trip, everything went on a toss, especially this month. Our daily routine is still not back to the normal. The library books are still lying there with no one to read, I almost skipped my bookmobile visit which I never did till date because of lack of interest. All this is not so good for us,  So, we both( me and mini-me) needed a change, we both are trying ourselves to be back on track. We started our gratitude again. Our book reading session also started like a hundred day challenge as a motivation. Let’s see how things go, will tell you in my next month’s gratitude post.