A Sweet Bunch of "Thank You's"

I've been so completely stressed out lately trying to balance everything in my life. My mom's health is declining so on top of having 3 kids, a husband, a home business, a house with a list of chores to take care of, an overly anxious dog, a cat...and all the other chaos that comes with these things...now I have to run over to my mom's house a couple times a day to make sure she sticks to her daily routine and schedule. Most of the time I feel like a complete stressed mess. Yes, I have siblings to share the load for which I'm so grateful. But being that I live the closest to Mom and work from home I'm the one who has the time...what??? I have extra time??? Huh??? Did I really say that???...I'm the one who goes over to help her most days. I've come to realize that I have to accept that this way of life is 'My New Normal'.

But I won't complain...my husband and kids are fantastic. They love my mom and understand that she needs me. Without their support I'd have an ulcer and I'd probably break down and cry everyday. They are the strong solid core in my life and they keep me sane. I thank God several times a day that I have them. They are my safe haven or to repeat a 'Dr. Philism', "They are my soft place to fall."

With that being said I have a sweet story to share...

My sister is a speech therapist who works with autistic children at a local school. Early in the school year she asked me to make some personalized name signs for each of her students. She explained that in the hallway outside the classroom there is a large shared bulletin board where the students display their daily work. My sister thought the signs would be a fun way for each child to mark his or her space.

Well, it took me a while to get the signs done. The fall is always my busiest season and then once the holiday season starts you can petty much write me off. I get too overloaded for any extra work. But over the holiday break I made a point to get these signs done.

Here are photos of a few of them:



Once the signs were delivered my sister immediately sent me photos of how they looked displayed on the bulletin board. (She sent them in a text and I don't know how to get them off my phone so, as much as I'd like to, I can't share those.) But I was so happy to hear that all of the students loved their signs!

Then this morning, to my complete surprise, I went out to get the mail and found a manila envelope addressed to me with the return address of the school where my sister works. Wondering what it was I opened it and enclosed was a bunch of handmade thank you cards and handwritten notes from the students!!




How wonderfully sweet!

Believe me...after the nutty and stressful week I had this was a delightful way to start my day!

I'm at my mom's now getting her day started so I have to get moving. But I just wanted to share that sweet tidbit. Hopefully it will remind all of the overstressed moms and dads out there that every so often wonderful things really do come in small packages!

More to come soon...until then,