Illumination

I woke up this morning and went about my usual routine. When I finished showering and went to plug in my hair dryer it made me smile. We moved into a new house about 6 weeks ago. To make things a little easier I put a night light in the bathroom so the kids could see where they were going at night. They decided they liked it so they kept it after we got comfortable.

The house is a fifties ranch so of course there is only one outlet in the bathroom, and the plug for my hairdryer can only go in right side up; that isn't possible when the night light is plugged in right side up. One morning a couple weeks ago, I found the night light plugged in right side up. I turned it up side down and plugged it back in so that I could plug in my hair dryer. After doing this for 3 or 4 days I talked to my kids and explained why we were having "light wars" thinking that it was very logical and straight-forward and they would leave the light alone. No, logic has nothing to do with this. For some reason, one of my girls just has to have that light right side up.

I spent the next week getting annoyed every time I had to play this switching game because it made no sense to me, and there was a simple solution if everyone would just cooperate. Then one morning, as I flipped the light, I thought about my daughter and smiled. So the next morning I tried it again. As I flipped the light I thought about how much I love my daughter, and I smiled. Now I do this every morning. It has created a bright spot in my morning. No matter how busy I am, or what is happening, it is a happy moment and it makes me smile. It was a small choice that shifted the direction of my mornings from one of irriation to appreciation.