A Good Day

On the surface, it seemed like a good day. I accomplished a lot. The house was dusted and vacuumed. Two out of three bathrooms had been cleaned. Bills had been payed. Children fed, changed and cleaned. My to-do list for the day was covered with the good kind of check-marks.

I had accomplished a lot without yelling at my kids. It seemed like a good day.

And yet, something was missing.

Yes, I made a dent in my to-do list, but at what cost?

Looking back, I realized I missed the most important moments of the day.

I never sat down and read books to my kids.

When my daughter came to give me a hug, I returned one half-heatedly and moved on to my next job.

When my son asked to play trains, I replied, "maybe later." But playing trains was not on my to-do list and it never got done.

It had seemed like a good day.

Yet, It could have been so much better.

I might not have gotten as much accomplished from the "keeping-house" point of view, but then their are more important things than keeping house.

Items that did not happen to be on my to-do list like strengthening relationships, living in the moment and creating memories could have been checked off instead.

My balance was off that day.

But today is a new day!

Today I will not be so works focused that I forget to be relationship focused.

Today I will not be so consumed with my to-do list that I forget to live in the moment.

Today I will not sacrifice creating memories with my children in order to clean another bathroom.

And as I read that last line, I have to wonder, "What in the world was I thinking!"