Who's faster than a speeding stroller?

Who's faster than a speeding stroller?

More powerful than a (toy) locomotive?

And able to leap tall (lego) buildings in a single bound?

It's me, SuperMom!

And I'm here to confess. I can't do it all. I can't even do most of it.

Case in point. You know you've let things go too far when you catch your husband cleaning the bathroom (at 5:30 a.m. no less!) because, and I quote, "The dirt was getting to me..."

And I'll tell you why I find time to write and blog (but not to clean the bathrooms). Because I can repeat my life back to myself as whimsical and sweet, without recalling the condition of the toilet bowl. Because I can write authoritatively about the lessons of my past without revealing my struggling ignorance in my present. And because, in taking stock of the experiences I've had, I can discover reasons to delight that I did not find in the very midst of those events.

Let me give you an example. Today we went strawberry picking at our CSA farm. In the 25 minutes en route to the farm, the temperature dropped 10 degrees and the rain started pouring down. I was bitter beyond bitter. But I had stashed the rain coats in the car (an unfortunate and necessary June habit I'd picked up), and we decided to make a go of it.

Two strawberries into the excursion Caed shouted, "Oh, I'm having so much fun! Aren't you, Dani?" And of course Dani repeated exactly what Caed said, only substituting her own name for his. And I'll be honest. I wasn't having fun. I was cold and wet and quite irritated about having to bundle up to pick strawberries in July.

But later as I processed the event and the berries, I remembered Caed's delight. And the fact that Dani actually (and willingly) ate a piece of fruit. And that I had free berries to put into a pie. (That I might not ever make, because remember, I'm not really SuperMom. I was just kidding about that part, because it seemed like a cool intro.)

But do you see what I mean? I show myself pictures like this....

Instead of pictures like this...


And when I focus on the good, that's how I remember it. Writing about it helps me savor the sweet, appreciate the good, learn from the bad, and find the humor in it all. It's just too bad it doesn't help me clean the toilets!

So, is it just me? What do you do to savor the good and to cope with the not so good? (And if your bathrooms are always spotless, I don't even wanna know!)

Photo 1 by Atmasphere
Photo 2 by Tboard
Photos 3, 4 & 5 by yours truly.