let me give you a peek into my life last week. i am going to guess some of it will sound a lot like your week. but i am going to warn you, the first part is not something i am proud of. fortunately, i think it lead to a fun idea and i hope you will join in the happy.

my husband left to go out of town early saturday morning, to be gone all week. our dishwasher was broken, so all week i was hand washing dishes for the whole family. the dishwasher was uninstalled, so i also had a gaping, dusty hole in the kitchen, and a crawler, who i worried would find and love that dusty hole.

i went about my normal schedule of getting kids out the door for school, well visits, my after-school tutoring job, unpacking backpacks, keeping life organized, trying to decide on and pay for a dishwasher, cleaning up the water than flooded the floor when i washed dishes because of a hose that was disconnected, fans running in the kitchen, pto meetings, keeping the house picked up, laundry, carpooling to kids activities, and bringing C along for the ride everywhere. she is the sweetest. i wouldn’t trade my time with her for one minute of peace by myself. but the fact remains, things have an added layer of complicated with a baby it tow. i am sure you get it.

it was thursday when i started to unravel. keven had been gone for six days. i picked up K from school for her second gymnastics class of the week and spent an hour and a half chasing C around while trying to give K’s handstands attention. from gymnastics, we went right to kindergarten “meet me on the playground.” K and E played while i tried to convince C that sitting in the stroller for another hour and a half was fun. then home to make dinner, clean up, and get kids showered for picture day the next day and then bed.

we arrived home to no hot water. none. also a tv that wouldn’t turn on. so the kids took freezing cold showers and one of them was not happy about it. at all. and everyone, including me, was whiny and hungry and needy.

and i started to make THAT list.

husband out of town.
broken dishwasher.
broken hot water heater.
broken tv.
bank account exploding.
overscheduled.
and still three kids to change, feed, get to bed, and clean up after.
not to mention do it all again tomorrow.

it is so easy to make THAT list. in fact, last thursday, i felt like i deserved to make THAT list. deserved to feel a little bit sorry for myself and my everything-going-wrong-or-being-hard week.

i thought i would feel better if i made THAT list.

but i didn’t. not even a LITTLE bit.

it just made me more mad and more frustrated. it caused me to think of more negative things to add to the list, even if the new things weren’t really that bad, because i was on a roll with THAT list.

and then a teensy tiny inkling of a thought started to enter my frustrated consciousness with this message:

but first, LITTLE things.

i was making the wrong list. in my heart i knew it the whole time, but it felt good for a minute to wallow. i should have known all along, being that i’ve been making the LITTLE things lists for the past 16 years. i should have known looking for the good, finding the LITTLE things, was going to be much more productive than THAT list. not to mention a better example for my kids.

but my frustration didn’t just go away immediately. i am telling you i had to take hold of THAT list and try very very hard to stop thinking about it. i had to look around my messy, no dishwasher, cold water house and find SOMETHING LITTLE to smile about.

my son was dancing in and out of the freezing shower to his own very loud rendition of a do you wanna dance by the beach boys. i didn’t even know he knew that song. my daughter continued to scream in her shower but i started to sing along with my son.

LITTLE thing #1: singing at the top of my lungs with E.

when i finally got down to throw together dinner i was really thankful for the versatility of the soft taco shell. my kids will eat anything if you put it in a soft taco shell. and they are so fast to make.

LITTLE thing #2: soft taco shells.

we used paper plates so there was no rinsing or putting anything into the missing dishwasher.

LITTLE thing #3: paper plates.

C has taken to purposely throwing food off her tray and then saying uh oh in her cute baby voice. she makes a mess but we almost don’t care for love of the uh oh’s.

LITTLE things #4: uh oh.

we made it up to bedtime. it was way too late to read stories but i read anyways. we quickly downloaded something new on my iPad from the library and everyone calmed down.

LITTLE thing #5: books readily available on the library app. and kids who love bedtime stories.

i could go on, but i imagine you get the picture. i came down from bedtime to a house that was still messy and a dishwasher that was still broken. the hot water i had somehow figured out how to fix amidst all the other chaos {the problem had to do with our breaker box}. the LITTLE things were not going to change the actual messes i had going on, but they certainly changed my mood.

and my approach. my outlook. my ability to cope with it all.

so here’s my question for you:

what is something really really hard/frustrating/disappointing/unexpected/sad that happened to you this week? and what LITTLE thing can you notice despite that seemingly bigger thing? will you join me in this new weekly theme:

the idea is, before you make THAT list, think of a LITTLE thing first. and if you start to make THAT list anyways, to bring yourself back to the LITTLE things, no matter how many times you have to remind yourself {i had to remind myself a LOT of times last thursday}.

post here in the comments, or in the fb comments {share a picture even!}, or on instagram. or pin the week’s image on pinterest. share the message with your friends. because here’s one more story before you return to your friday:

i called my sister the following tuesday. our new dishwasher was delivered with a dent in the front. so off it went back to the store and there i was, back to making THAT list. because now our dishwasher was on backorder. and we still don’t have it. i called my sister and i was rattling off all the reasons why this was so inconvenient. she did not entertain my negative list. instead, she said, i am going to say to you what you would say to me. you can’t change that dent. so you might as well notice the LITTLE things.

she was right.

friends! that is why we need to do this as a community! to hold each other accountable to the RIGHT kind of list.

the LITTLE things are fun. they totally change your perspective. they won’t solve your problems but they will give you a clearer, happier head while you work to solve your own problems. i cannot wait to see what hard thing you reframe into good each week with this new challenge. and if you have more than one…share them all! i will not get tired of seeing your name in the comments…it will MAKE MY DAY!

did you stumble upon this post and you’re not sure what the LITTLE things are all about? click here. you’ll be caught up in no time and i can’t wait to have you join in the but first, LITTLE things weekly pick me up.

interested in reading more at notice the LITTLE things?

join in noticing 10 LITTLE things in every kind of day and come along on my diy, parenting, and organizing adventures. click here to subscribe and receive access to my favorite FREE printables.