It was 冬至 yesterday! I sure hope you had your fill of 汤圆!
We got a headstart on the 汤圆 on Sunday at my MIL’s place, but truth be told, I didn’t manage to cook or eat any of my own 汤圆 yesterday because, as usual, life happened. Lunch took longer than expected as we got waylaid by some shrinky dink action, then there was nap time which didn’t happen, then I had to pop the kids over to my parents’ place while I went to pick my helper up from the airport over dinner time. Like I said, that’s life. So we only got down to making our own 汤圆 today. Guess I just couldn’t let the opportunity go to waste!
Happy, high children making 汤圆. Alas, they only like to make but don’t like to eat them…
One of my favourite traditions during 冬至 is to take the time to be thankful, and so even without the 汤圆, I took some time yesterday to reflect on my thankfulness list for the year.
This year, I am thankful for…
… good health. I am coughing my lungs out as I write this, being down with a painful sore throat. But I’m glad that other than the occasional ailment, I have, by and large, been in good health this year. The kids too have rarely fallen ill and have managed to escape any serious injury. The latter does feel somewhat miraculous, considering some of the scrapes they got themselves into! That’s God’s protection at work.
… good help. The highlight of my day yesterday was quite possibly the fact that my helper has returned from home leave. I was really struggling to keep afloat while she was away, especially during this busy and wet period! It took me a while to find my feet and though thankfully, she is back in the nick of time to save me. It’s her third year with me and while there are things that can be done better (I have to up my low standards), I’m glad that we have a good working relationship and that her heart is in the right place. I’m really looking forward to clean floors again!
… opportunities. And there were plenty that came my way this year, often from unexpected places. We got to watch a lot of shows, attend special events, and even got featured in press a couple of times. I had the opportunity to work with some really great partners like Fox Kids and Lego, and also started doing a bit of freelance writing for Yahoo Parenting. Being a stay-at-home-no-income mum, I am grateful for the additional pocket money and the extras that these opportunities have given us as a family. It’s been quite a ride. At the same time, with all these opportunities, there has, quite ironically, been opportunity cost to other areas of my family life, something that I’m paying for as I play catch up. I feel I’ve dropped a few balls this years and wasted some time, time that cannot be reclaimed. I need to realign my life and my priorities, something which I’ve started to do more of recently and which I will share about in time to come.
… my two munchkins and their unconditional love. These two have grown so much this year, it’s astonishing. They are at such a fun age now, I just want to hold on to them at this moment in time and never let go. You would think that since I’m with them all day, I have all the time to enjoy them, but no. There are good days, and then there are days when nothing happens, or when I’m distracted by my to-do list, or days when I’m nagging or screaming all the time. Days when I heave a sigh of relief when they go to bed, then immediately feel guilty about my behaviour or how the day went once they fall asleep. I’m such a contradiction. But no matter how the day went, I know that they love me, unwaveringly, and each morning I feel grateful for being able to be a part of their everyday life.
… my husband, my partner-in-crime. This year hasn’t been a great year for us, honestly. We’ve not been as tuned in to each other, each of us carrying on with our activities in our own little worlds. But we want to make it work, and that’s what matters. We’ve always been able to talk it out, no matter what, and that’s what we did recently. Now comes the doing… Still, there’s no one else whom I know is in my corner as much as this man is, and that’s something I’m thankful for everyday.
… friends, and this week, especially old friends. I had the opportunity these couple of weeks to meet up with some friends from days past. First a 20-year (!!!) reunion of old schoolmates, which, I must confess, I wasn’t totally sure I wanted to attend. I was never very close to anyone in my set of classes, and have in the years that followed all but lost touch with the few that I did consider friends. I went anyway, even if I did have to drag myself there, because I knew it was the sort of thing I would later regret not going for. My reservations melted away soon after I arrived. As I expected, I had fun catching up. There is a bond formed over shared memories and experiences, and having seen each other through some of our worst moments in adolescence, it was nice to see how everyone turned out.
I then had the opportunity to meet the friends who really saw me through school, and that was fantastic. There’s no one you can really be yourself with like old friends, and that’s something to be treasured and grateful for.
One thing that I’ve learnt over the years is that I might not have a best friend (except the husband), but that is ok. The ones I consider my best friends in fact have others they consider their best friends instead of me, and that’s ok with me too. There was a time when I probably would not have been able to stomach that, but I’ve come to realise (with age, no less) that such terms are not as important as the friendship is. I know I matter to them and they matter to me, and that is enough.
I’ve been blessed with much this year, and I am thankful. Next year though, I plan to savour it all a little better. I’m looking forward to you, 2015!
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