Do you love your kitchen bench?
On days like this I love my kitchen bench. There is beautiful fruit and vegetables. I feel like a good person and a good mum.
But my bench doesn’t always look like this.
Some days there’s just one lonely piece of fruit left rolling around in the bowl.
Some days when James gets home from work we play surprise chef because we’re limited by what reasonable things we can find waiting patiently in the fridge for us.
Some days I feel like a crappy mum because most of the things we’ve eaten that day have come out of a packet in the pantry.
On those days though the chances are I’ve had an emotionally fragile child, who wanted more than anything to be cocooned in her familiar environment and not thrown into the harsh, bright chaos of the supermarket.
Or maybe I’ve been unwell myself, or caught up in doing all the other things that I try to do to keep the life machine humming.
And it’s not just me as a Mum that I know this happens to.
I have friends without children who work ridiculously long hours that when the end of the working day finally comes they can’t bear the thought of making one more stop on the way home to grab some fresh food.
So they order in takeaway.
Or they miraculously turn a piece of stale bread into some kind of toasted masterpiece.
And you know what? That’s ok. We’re all doing our best.
If it’s a day when I’m not loving the state of my kitchen bench I look to where else in my life I am being kind.
Did I honour my child’s needs to be still?
Did I meet my own needs by allowing my body to rest?
Did I give myself a break for not ticking the 86th item off the list and gave myself a cheeky treat instead?
Look for the kindness.
The bowl of fruit will come.
xx
