9 Days to Gratitude: a Thanksgiving Novena {Day Four}

For those of you just joining in, this is part of a series on cultivating gratitude in preparation for Thanksgiving. You can see Day One here, Day Two here, and Day Three here.

Day Four

Today I am grateful for nap time.

Mr. D usually takes a morning and an afternoon nap. Mostly these are fairly short, under an hour. But every once in awhile he surprises me by sleeping 2 or even 3 hours. I spend nap time catching up on chores around the house or writing a blog post (if I'm feeling ambitious), surfing the Internet or reading a book (if I'm feeling lazy), or taking a nap myself (if I'm feeling tired and/or sick). Today is one of those latter days. I woke up with a sore throat and have felt really sluggish and short-tempered all day. 

It didn't help that Mr. D has taken to protesting being put in his car seat or stroller. Protesting=screaming and bucking. It's hard not to feel like the worst parent in the world when my child is screaming bloody murder. One of the neighbor children called into our garage during one of these screaming matches, "Is everything okay??" Needless to say, these situations take a lot out of me, even when I'm feeling my best. Today was not one of those days. 

So, today I am grateful for Mr. D's nap times. I was able to close my eyes and even snooze a little bit. But most of all, I enjoyed the blissful quiet. I'm not sure how you mamas of multiple children make it through the day, with naps at potentially different times. I suppose I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. 

Isn't he just the cutest?