The Gratitude Project - Day 3

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This morning, I woke up and it was FREEZING. Neither my husband or I had remembered to close our bedroom window last night. I live in a big city, and I grew up in a bad neighborhood, so to me, an open window at night is like an engraved invitation for some bad guy to come in and rob/rape/kill you.

I sighed and tried to roll over, but I didn't have much room as we're still having trouble convincing the boy to sleep in his own bed. He tends to want to lay all the way over next to me, so I get maybe a foot and a half in which to squeeze for sleeping. He also hogs blankets. As I went to disentangle him from the sheets, I came to the realization that he had wet the bed for the first time in about four or five months.

So much for sleeping in a little longer.

But you know what? First off, I woke up this morning. That in itself is something for which to be thankful, because there are a lot of people who eventually no longer get that privledge. The horrible heat has FINALLY relented, allowing us to have the cooler fall temperatures that I love. We have windows that can be forgotten about, which means we have a house in which to live. I have a husband to forget about the window. We live in a pretty safe neighborhood so no one broke in during the night.

I have a child who can come sleep next to me. How many people long for that gift and never get it, or worse, have lost it? I'm lucky that he still is willing to snuggle against me, even if it does mean that real estate is limited on the bed. He may hog blankets, but we have nice bedding, including a warm down comforter, under which we can snuggle on cold mornings. We don't have to sleep on the floor.

Yeah, the bed wetting stinks, but again, there is a little boy there who CAN wet the bed. Also, this is the first time in MONTHS that this has happened, which means I am fortunate enough to have a completely potty trained child, and I don't have to worry about money to buy diapers. It's inconvenient to have to clean that mess for sure, but I'm blessed to have a washer and dryer of my very own in our house so that all I have to do is walk across our living room to get them clean. I'll tell you, I do NOT miss the days of having to rustle up quarters for a laundromat!

I'm also thankful that we had the foresight to buy a waterproof mattress protector when we got our bed, so that it won't be smelling like urine forever. Give me a few hours to run a couple loads of laundry, and you'll never be able to tell that an accident happened in there. Besides, Wednesday was bed stripping day anyway so the bedding was due for a wash! Hooray for not needing to do double work!

So, today, what am I thankful for? Well, a lot of things, but above all, the clarity to be able to look at a situation that may not be completely favorable but still be able to see the blessings within.