My default setting is optimist.
Over the years, life and people have taken off a bit of the shine so now, while I'm more of a realist, I still veer to the optimist end of the scale.
My friend, Natalie, often calls me Pollyanna because Lord knows, through this "getting to baby" journey, I've had a number of challenges come my way. And the only way I know how to cope is to look for the positive in every situation.
What's that saying, you have to laugh otherwise you'll cry?
Well, I'm in the "focus on the positive" camp.
We had our infertility support group Christmas party on 3 Dec and one of the ladies shared so beautifully.
She said that while these last 5 years for her and her hubby have been terrible in terms of longing for and working towards baby, she actually does appreciate that they had time to travel and do things that only couples can do. (She'll be having her baby in January)
I'm not as eloquent but that was the gist of the message.
I started thinking how true that was.
And I remembered how just a few nights prior to that night, in the wee hours of the morning while feeding Connor, I decided to focus on the positive part of my children not sleeping as well as everyone else's kids.
I get to spend MORE quality time with them.
We get to have MORE kisses and cuddles.
Total, focussed, one-on-one baby time which really is precious.
Of course I said this when it was my turn to share and everybody laughed :)
Then I found a few posts where others were also looking on the bright side...
Saffy will be able to drink wine because she won't be breastfeeding by Christmas
Leah says her little girl, BB, eats like a little bird. A really good way of saying she doesn't feed very well (exactly like Kendra was and now she's eating beautifully so there's hope!). If you click that link you'll see an absolutely GORGEOUS quilt - I'm drooling....
So tell me, what's your default setting? Optimist, realist or pessimist?
P.S. Today a year ago, I was peeing on my second stick. Of course the second pink line didn't reassure me one bit because I knew that it could very well be another chemical pregnancy.
P.P.S. This is my post for Steadymom's 30-minute blog challenge. Post time 20 mins start to finish because no photos!
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I think focusing on the positive as a mom of young kids helps keep you sane! After 2 miscarriages, I remember thinking as I was washing bottles one night (and was REALLY tired of doing so), "I am so blessed to be able to wash these!" Thinking of what amazing gifts of God my 2 girls are helps me to smile during the mundane and even unpleasant tasks of motherhood. We are blessed, thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDeleteOptimist. I get stressed but I bounce back. And I never hold a grudge - my memory isn't that long. In my mind my kids only got up once a night until they were five months old but reading old blogs proves it was more like 3 times for Ned. See how an imperfect memory helps? :)
ReplyDeleteOh boy am I ever the optimist! Through 10 years of struggling with IF, I never thought I wouldn't succeed. I'm sure there are times when I was sad about how hard it was, but I always thought I'd get what I wanted in the end. I'm also always pretty cool about when the babies or even Phoebe for that matter want me. It's so nice to be wanted and have little cuties to hug (and big ones if you count DH. I'm always happy to hug him too, maybe more, not telling, LOL!)
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm perpetually happy at work. Not much bothers me. I always know things will work out and I don't stress.
My default setting is realist. But after being socialized in a public school, I was a severe pessamist. Over the years, I've reset to realist.
ReplyDeleteI'm terrified of offending others, but getting braver. Extremely shy and withdrawn, but given half a chance, I'll talk your head off giving out information. My aunt use to call me the Encyclopedia.
However, after coming so close to loosing LaRue and after 5 miscarriages and years of trying. I'm very thankful for my 4 kids.