Starting a Gratitude Diary - anyone else want to post theirs?

[FlossieTCake]

I had a lovely, lovely day on Monday. DS1 was home sick - I know that doesn't sound good, but basically he had a high temperature, wasn't suffering too much, actually quite perky, so we had a really happy quiet day, playing a couple of board games, getting a bit of housework done, entertaining DD1...

I kept catching myself, rather than enjoying the time I was having, already beginning to feel miserable about not being able to do the same again on Tuesday because I'd be at work. I decided that This Has To Stop. I am wishing my life away kicking against something I can't change (easily or unilaterally), i.e. the need to work so the family can eat.

I have read somewhere - can't remember where, I've searched the usual suspects and can't find a link - that keeping a "gratitude diary" (making a note of, say, five things you feel grateful for) on a weekly basis can help counteract some of this.

So.... I thought I'd give it a go (having first strapped on my flameproof jacket of course as I'm not sure what anyone else will think of it!).

This week, I am grateful for:

1. DD1's sunny, happy attitude to life - her ability to take everything in her stride and completely not sweat the small stuff

2. My mum, for picking my kids up and making dinner once a week every week (pretty much) for about the last 2 or 3 years. (and for loads of other stuff besides but my memory of this approach is that you're meant to keep it quite specific)

3. A nice group of friends who also like to sing, and who spent an hour or so round our dining room table this evening rehearsing some great pieces of music

4. My lovely friend who has had DS1 and DS2 over to play this afternoon and over for a sleepover tonight

5. The book I'm reading at the moment, which is great.

Phew. That was harder than I expected.

Anyone else want to join in..?

ok then, i'll have a go

1. my kids are all healthy and happy
2. my AD's have started working and i am no longer living in a long dark tunnel, but am actually back on planet earth.
3. dp is taking me away somewhere nice and mysterious for my birthday this w/end.
4. i have nice friends
5. i am able to ponder whether or not i want another baby any time soon, with a fair amount of surety that i will get pg any time i like (and i realise that is far from the case for many)

Ooh, I like number (3) Have a good time!

thanks flossie

1. I am greatful for my two boys health and happiness
2. I am greatful that DS1 introduces himself as captain scarlett to complete strangers in the park.
3. I am greatful that DS2 has learned to say Mama.
4. I am greatful for my dental insurance which is paying for my 10 years younger makeover
5. I am greatful for mumsnet's vintage style advice on how i should dress in 1940s style. I am soo excited and am thinking it might creep into my everyday style.

is it grateful? sounds like something to do with fireplaces. greatful sounds more like i am full of greatness that....

oh dear. too tired.

I think this is a lovely idea - always good to count ones blessings

(1) My husband for insisting we had a surprise day out which was lovely

(2) My children for being angelic with weekend visitors - angelic all weekend

(3) Last night's dinner guest for being entertaining (and also the fact that the meal turned out - was a bit of a gamble making something new from scratch without practising)

(4) My work colleagues who set to and delivered a project in time

(5) My car. It is utterly and completely reliable. It is also not here (long story) and I am missing it. Driving DH's car is just NOT the same.

Hello FlossieT This is a fab idea!
Here are the things I am grateful for this week:

1. my DS, who has gone down for his nap this morning without his usual histrionics
2. the sun, because it is shining brightly and summer is here
3. my DH, who has planned every meal this week so I haven't had to think about food at all
4. my mum and dad, for agreeing to babysit so we can go to a wedding and hence have a drink and chat to our long lost friends without worrying about DS
5. the Time Traveler's Wife, for making my head hurt trying to understand how time travel works and allowing my brain to think about something other than baby stuff for the first time in months and months and months

Whoops, missed a week... last week I was 5x grateful for PILs who took my vicious permanently squabbling DSs to the other end of the country for 10 days and gave me a bit of a breather

This week I am grateful for:

1. The hedgehog in our garden, because it just feels really cool to have a hedgehog. And he/she moves a lot faster than I thought hedgehogs could so it has been very educational too

2. Wimpole Hall Home Farm, for a superlative day out with all 3 DCs today, for a tenner (OK, more like about 20 by the time you add in the overpriced coffee and ice cream, but still, given we spent practically the whole day there, excellent value. And everyone LOVED it).

3. Renaissance choral music, because I sang loads on Saturday and it was fabulous.

4. My mum (again) for babysitting on Saturday night so I could go to a barbecue and sing even more

5. DH going to bed early tonight rather than staying up stupidly late watching Top Gear on iPlayer. Fingers crossed it actually helps...

Speaking of which: I think I might try for a pre-midnight bedtime myself, just for once...

1. SIL. We are quite different in many ways but have learned to love each other, and am glad to have got to know her so well before she moved across the Atlantic (today )
2. The timer on the kitchen clock, which is helping me through the painful process of having to do chores when all I want to do is go to bed.
3. Ernie and bert
4. DS1, for being incredibly helpful yesterday in a completely above-and-beyond-the-call manner
5. A week off (even though it's now all gone and I am sad).

This is such a lovely idea

1. My DC have been so lovely today
2. That DH and I are so lucky to be able to move house when so many could not - I really think we are blessed
3. For a lovely holiday last week when people we hardly new were truly welcoming and kind - the kindness of strangers
4. The ability to read - I have read so much this holiday

Great thread, don't worry what people think about it: lovely!

I once downloaded a lovely meditation mp3 from some mad American called Stin or summat which was about daily gratitude and it really helped me get life in perspective..

So mine, taking for granted that I am ALWAYS grateful for the health of myself and my loved ones...

1. On a singing theme, walking past one of those choral workshops today and being transported by the sound of lovely amateur singers

1. Grateful for my lovely DH who gets up at 5.30 to let me have an hour and a half extra sleep in the mornings after feeding through the night

1. Thankful my parents are well and able to go off on adventures now they have retired (and invite us to visit them for a free holiday!)

1. Grateful to have found a reliable babysitter (now the parents are off!) to help out from time to time

1. Everyday, I thank the world for the roof over my head and my lovely garden which I can sit in and look at trees.

the kindness of strangers.

There you go for a start.

1. for having a house and lots of clean water, in my mind due to seeing a programme on people in kenya today.

1. had a lovely evening on friday where i shared mojitos and nibbles with two friends. they come to my house as i cant leave dd.

1. for having a wonderful time with dd this evening when she laughed so much she nearly got sick!

1. for having a very restful month before september brings my final uni year and big school for dd!

1. for having lots of family and friends close to me, and knowing that they love me.

ooh very good idea.

1. im gratefull that despite all that my Ds has to struggle with he is happy.

1. that my DD looks like me and not her dad

1. that i have a rusty old car that is a bit of a heap but that it goes and it's all mine.

1. that my parents are just round the corner and no matter how much i moan about them they are there for me.

1. To my friends who have shown me that i don't need to be a social outcast just because of Ds' Sn. i just needed to find the right friends.

(1) That we are going to be emigrating very soon.
(2) That even if I cant sell the house we can rent it out and it wont stop us moving abroad
(3) That even though my family are a complete bunch of tossers I have very good supportive friends.
(4) That I am alive
(5) That I was blessed with 3 beautiful healthy kiddies.

Great idea
1)My gorgeous if infuriating baby girls
2)DH isn't too bad either
3)My lovely mum who brought me up very much alone and has always beaten her own path
4)My beautiful girlfriends who help me to be something other than "mummy" for a few hours each week.

Am finding it v uplifting that a lot of people are mentioning "angelic" (or similar) DCs on here. A lot of the reason I started MNing in the first place was to do with an apparent complete absence of this variety of child so it is lovely lovely to hear that we do all love 'em really. yay!

This week I am not feeling very grateful, so I am finding this thread helpful, I am grateful for:

1. My cousins for appearing unexpectedly on Sunday which caused me to cancel everything and go for an unnecessary lunch (v good)

2. My cleaning lady who appeared unexpectedly when I was awash with broken bottles and a report that needed finishing and made me go and finish the report while she sorted out the broken bottles and spillages

3. My DH for picking the children up every day because I am too inefficient to manage to do that job on time

4. My employers for rating me outstanding at work - they are deluded but it was nice anyway

5. I am grateful for my hanging baskets which I know are infradig but make me smile every time I see them

QC I love no. 4. We have nothing so formal as "ratings" at my work but I know exactly what you mean (and I'm sure their delusion is not as total as you think )

Oh nice thread!

a) My children and dh and I are healthy
b) I am very happily married
c) dd goes to school in Sept, saving us £800 a month in nursery fees
d) I have fantastic support from exh and ex ils, esp ex mil, who loves both my children even though 1 of them isn't biologically related to her
e) I am working from home today

rofl at QC's excellent use of infradig.

God, you must be posh.

And old.

I am grateful for:

1. my beautiful, charming, funny, mischevious daughter, who lights up every second of my life
2. my mum, who is my best friend, and loves dd as much as me
3. my friends (including my virtual friends) for their support and love in difficult times
4. the Bounty I am eating, which is yummy

I am grateful to mumsnetters who teach me new words such as infra dig

I'll admit to old - 41 heading for 90. That's old isn't it?

Old enough to appreciate the joy of small things. Like the really nice skinny cappucino with cinnamon that I am currently enjoying. Something else to be grateful for.