Thankful...for all of it

I celebrated Thanksgiving morning by throwing a temper tantrum. Full Mommy style, complete with stomping upstairs, slamming the stair gate and banging around until I got into the shower. Nothing major, just our typical morning before some sort of holiday/family gathering. I'm always harboring some sort of subconscious stress which renders me extra-sensitive and easily irritated by everyone else's annoying behavior. Like Bitty Girl's incessant whining, The Boy's unending questions after he watched a movie, and Husband's desire to make a nice pancake breakfast. Someday we'll figure out how to break the tantrum cycle, but evidently not this year.

I felt slightly better after my shower, but unfortunately, the damage is done. It just disrupts the environment enough to set everyone on edge. Luckily, The Boy and Husband left at noon for the Thanksgiving gathering--Bitty Girl and I will join them after her nap. This year it's at my sister-in-law's house, only 10 minutes away.

So she's sleeping, I'm writing instead of making the salad and trying to make myself look presentable (difficult when I have bad hair, nothing to wear, etc.). But a couple of hours of quiet will hopefully be enough for me to settle down enough to have fun this afternoon.

Because I really am thankful...

• Thankful that I have two beautiful healthy perfect babies. I know every day, every minute how lucky I am. I'm trying to be thankful for the constant questions and curiosity and whining as the whole package--it's difficult, but I'm working on it!
• Thankful that I have a wonderful husband who puts up with my tantrums and my craziness and my mess. No, he's not perfect and has his own (quieter) tantrums, but he's still amazing.
• Thankful that we have a big family Thanksgiving gathering, with lots of cousins and aunts and uncles. In spite of the noise and craziness, it's a wonderful 30+ year tradition in my husband's family and I'm lucky to have married into it.
• Thankful that we have a house, jobs and plenty of food. Especially this time of year, and in spite of all our worries, I know that not everyone has these things.
• Thankful for a million other things: that my mom and Steve are safe and having fun in Europe, that my niece Maggie is doing so well and staying so healthy on her oxygen, that none of my loved ones are in Iraq, that my grandma is watching her great-grandchildren grow up, that it's a beautiful sunny day.

I will update later with any delightful anecdotes from Thanksgiving dinner. Hopefully it will not include another tantrum on my part.

Happy Thanksgiving!