H is for HONOR the beauty in the "everyday"

H is for "HONOR the beauty in the everyday"

O.k., in the interest of full disclosure, I had a really hard time coming up with a topic for "H" (that's why my post is so late today).  I surveyed my family for THEME-RELATED topics beginning with "H", and this is what they came up with:

HUSBAND:  Herbivore, Hellebore (what the HELLebore is that? "it's a plant" he tells me...),Humanitarian, Herbicide   (can you tell he's a farmer?)

DAUGHTER:  Harry Potter

SON: Harpoon

ME: HUH?????

In the end, I decided to go with something that our harried (hey, that's an "H" word to write about right there!) lives often cause us to overlook- the beauty in the everyday.

Take a look at your calendar....does it look anything like mine did last month?

Insanity, right????

I know my nutty schedule isn't anything unusual for an active family, so I wasn't surprised when I visited a friend not too long ago, and saw her wall calendar just as packed.  Now I was viewing her calendar from a distance, so all I was able to see was each day's block 1/2 filled with tiny script at the bottom of the block.  I said,"Wow!  Look at your calendar!  You're running as flat out as we are!"  She laughed and replied, "Oh, we're busy, but not all of those are obligations!  My husband likes to write down a little something to remember about each day.  Either something we did, something we laughed about, something silly one of the  kids said...just something that set that day apart from the rest."    SO cool, right????

I save my calendars from year to year, so I can remember where we went, and what we did.  They also act as a logistical timeline of our lives.  Imagine the treasures they'd be if they were also records of mini-milestones (or mega-milestones!), or nuggets of silliness that had the family laughing, certain we'd remember what was said forever (but without writing it down, it'd sadly get lost as collateral damage of our crazy schedule)?

By adding the ritual of "honoring the everyday"- simply taking a minute or two at the end of the day to record something different about the day- we are turning the "usual" into something precious.  We mark that day as different from the rest- a day not simply to have completed, but a day to be remembered for its uniqueness in our family histories.  What a great way to express gratitude- by taking a moment to pause, reflect, and record the wonders of daily life with our children- days that pass FAR too quickly!