I had a choice between having a nap, working out or writing this week’s happy list. If you’re reading this, you know which one I picked. Honestly, I probably should have chosen the nap, right? I think this time of the year has caught up with me! It might be tiring, but it is fun.
Here are the things that have made me happy this past week…
November turning into December
I have this big self imposed rule where I quite often refuse to do anything Christmas related until it is December (other than some early Christmas gift buying if I am feeling super organised). I’m stubborn about it. I feel like I want my Christmas celebrations to be about quality time, not quantity (i.e. starting in September). It also helps me to compartmentalise all that is involved with this time of year. I can put it in the ‘don’t worry about it yet’ basket for 11 months of the year!
But when December 1st rolls around, I am crazy for all things Christmas related. It’s so much fun when you have a little one. We’ve got the advent calendar (this time it’s a felt one that you can reuse every year which makes me feel very out of my parenting league). The tree is up. I put ‘Christmas’ in the Pinterest search bar. You know it’s serious, when you crack out your Pinterest account haha.
There will be so many more fun things to do in the lead up to Christmas. Yay!
Anniversary date night with that guy I married 8 years ago
I am not kidding when I tell you that we were excited about it for months. Our date nights out are often very few and far between, with us often settling for an ‘after the Little Mister has gone to bed’ date night in. We headed into Fremantle for a delicious and simple dinner at Little Creatures, before going for a nice walk and reliving the good times we’d shared when we’d lived very close by. We weren’t really out very late (we were a little sheepish about how tired we were haha) but it was just so bloody relaxing! Just the two of us, finishing conversations without being interrupted, holding hands. Making things up as we went along. Bliss.
We grabbed some takeaway dessert and came home to watch a movie. We slept in. Not much. But a lot by our standards.
It was so nice to connect as a couple – alone! I’m still bloody tired (you know when you get one OK night of sleep and then instead of being grateful your body decides that it wasn’t enough so you end up feeling more tired?), but I feel loved up and all that spew-in-a-bucket cheesy stuff.
Hearing the Little Mister singing Christmas songs
It’s just so darn cute. Especially when he’s learnt something new at day care and comes home and performs it for us with pride, using his little kid voice. Seriously. You’ll have to take my word for it. It’s frickin’ adorable.
Maintaining a small weight loss
I’ve been stoked to have lost about half a kilo in the last week or two. I’ve managed to maintain that loss (it is usually a really annoying plateau/hump for me) and even though it’s not much, it’s been really encouraging. I must keep motivated in the next few weeks though. As soon as I conquer a bit of my fatigue, I’ll be hitting it hard again this week coming. Yay. I never thought running would be my thing, but seeing how it’s been changing my body has been so amazing.
Being so proud of the Little Mister when he got his immunisations (and knowing they’re the last ones until he’s much much older)!
I was a bit nervous. The Little Mister had no recollection of getting his last immunisations (he was only 18 months old) so he had no idea what to expect, but all of the awareness of a 4 year old. I had explained to him that he was getting some needles to make him really healthy and strong. I warned him in a clear but gentle way that they would hurt for a second or two but that it would all be over really quickly. It helped that I have been getting lots of blood tests myself lately (my usual disclaimer: nothing to worry about by the way and no I am not pregnant – that’s the point). He was so excited to be such a big boy.
He came with me and he brought his precious stuffed hippo. He was adorable when he asked me if I would stay with him while he had his needles – as if I would be anywhere else. I had to have him in my lap, holding his arms down in a tight hug while two nurses gave him his two needles (one in each arm) at the exact same time – good tactical move for sure. He tried so hard to be brave. One of the needles hurt more than the other and he said a little surprised “Ow!”
Then the needle started to really sting him and he couldn’t hold it in anymore. He cried and looked so sad and bewildered. Oh, my heart!
We had to stick around for 15 minutes afterwards to make sure he wouldn’t have any adverse reactions and that was where the problems started. He was suddenly tired, overwhelmed and becoming irritable (a side effect). He screamed and cried when we had to leave. Like heartbreaking, volume 11 stuff – I am lucky enough to say that it was not like him at all. I had to scoop him up, carry him to the car and lever him into his car seat. He was almost inconsolable.
Later, I told him how he had been so brave and that I admired his courage and he was my super hero. He seemed to not believe he’d done a good job at being brave, but seeing him instantly calm when I told him that he was not in trouble for crying, that I understood that it is hard and even most grown ups don’t like needles, was just a really moving moment.
It might have been a tough day for him to begin with, but it was a lovely day full of cuddles and love and tenderness from then on. I am still so proud of him. I don’t want to raise a boy who thinks it’s bad to cry or feel pain. I want to raise a son who understands that it’s OK to and that true courage doesn’t mean you’re not scared. It means you do something even though you’re scared. I just felt like he learned to believe in himself a little more that day, you know?
Gosh, it’s hard work raising a human, but so rewarding.
Other stuff that has made me happy:
- Watching Elf with the Little Mister – our annual tradition.
- Hearing about all the fun stuff the Little Mister did with my parents when he slept over for our date night.
- Realising that the people who stick needles in my arm all the time are so nice and I am so grateful because it can be stressful for me.
- Seeing the Little Mister in his ‘big school’ (he starts kindy next year) uniform for the first time, all proud of himself.
- Master of None on Netflix.
- Cider.
- Wine.
- I might have a problem.
- OOPS.
Haha.
What is on your happy list?
