The Extraordinary Within the Ordinary

"An Especially Special Run-of-the-Mill Day" - that is what I titled my daycare blog post for yesterday.

It was a day like (almost) all of the days that preceded it these past five & a half months. Same kids. Same routines. Same challenges and frustrations. It was another day of the 'same old, same old'. With a difference.

All weekend, our days at daycare replayed in my mind. My little two & a half year old copies everything he sees. Children see all, hear all and copy what they see.

It is frustrating to see my little guy act like the one-year-olds. That was not the issue that was replaying in my mind this past weekend. It was when I heard my words, my tone and my actions on the tongue of a two-year-old that I really sat up and took notice.

I liked some of what I saw and heard. But not everything. It was that which did not look good on my little two-year-old that haunted me this past weekend. And that was good.

One of the phrases that my little guy repeats is, "You know better!"; slightly paraphrased from my common refrain, "When you know better, you do better. You know better!" I must listen to what I am attempting to teach my kids. I know better! And yesterday? I did better.

It was a day where little moments stood out at the end of the day. After all was said and done, I realized that I had a little story to tell each of my mom's when they picked up their child at the day's end. I think we all ended the day with a smile.

It was an ordinary day. With a difference. I shall strive to find the extraordinary within the ordinary. It is there. We just have to sit up and take notice.

"Children listen best with their eyes. What you do is what they hear.” ~ Richard Carlson