Well, maybe journaling doesn’t technically make bad days go away, it does make them more tolerable. Yesterday started out okay at our house My husband was out of town, but I am used to it, so it doesn’t make functioning any harder. Depending on what’s going on, it can be easier (sorry babe!). I was almost 100% ready to head out the door, pick up my mom, drop off my daughter at preschool, head to my son’s one-year check and get some craft supplies. Then life happened. My daughter accidentally pulled the bedroom door shut on her little brother’s finger. So instead of a nice, planned walk out the door with two kids, I got to bandage the bloody hand of a screaming baby, throw kids and bags in the car and drive into town to the emergency room. Through construction and morning rush hour. It was awesome.
Happily, mom was able to meet us at the hospital, so she took L to school. And when she came back, she got to help wrestle a baby while they steri-stripped his fingertip back on. Luckily, his bone was not damaged, but his finger was severed about three-quarters of the way around. Once bandaged, he was more or less back to his usual self. Walking out of the E.R., he was waving his huge hand bandage at all the nurses and patients yelling “buh, buh” as loud as he could. Why am I telling you all this? Because my kid was injured, and like most parents, I think it must be intensely interesting to every one of you strangers. I’m kidding…mostly.
But that story does serve to paint a picture of a day all of us are familiar with, parents or not. You have your ducks in a row, things ready. You’re gonna kick ass on the day and get stuff done. Then you get derailed. And instead of spending the night painting and sewing for your loved ones, you are medicating and rocking an injured human. Or whatever. Besides that, there is the stress (ohmygod is his finger gonna fall off!?!?), and the fatigue and just plain irritation at life in general. This is pretty much the ideal time to journal. When things are less than ideal, that’s when you can really hit a flow with writing or doodling. And getting those feelings out on paper creates this feeling of weight being lifted off your shoulders. It’s like verbally unloading at a good friend for a solid half hour, but without the risk of annoying another person.
I have been working on my visual journals a lot lately. Mostly because they are extremely easy to do in small pockets of time and with kid hanging around. I have an old 9 by 12 baking pan that is sitting around filled with supplies. Whenever I have a few minutes to kill, I grab and go. So here are a few shots of what I have been up to lately. Then it’s time to pray my little man sleeps better tonight.
daydreamhouse 