Headaches and Happiness

Yesterday I awoke with a horrible headache.  Lack of sleep and sinus pressure were winning the war in my throbbing head.

For some odd reason - this day - the girls were in rare form.  In a good way.  They were getting along marvelously.  Playing together; squealing in delight; running to and fro through the house - while squealing; making up elaborate games -- all of which entailed lots of noise and motion.

I usually relish days like this. They are happy.  Smiling.  Laughing.  Playing nicely together. NO bickering.  NO fighting over toys.  Just collaborative, creative playing.  A mama's dream.

Ride 'em cowboy - nothing like pillow pet wranglin' -
as long as your with your sisters

Headache brewing caused me to be less than thrilled with the level of robust creativity.  On occasion I found myself tempering the girls enthusiasm simply because it was causing the already dull drumming in my head to escalate to a severe pounding in mere seconds.

Coffee in hand, I made a choice.  I'd get some ibuprofen, start lunch, then plan to do an activity with the girls.  If you can't beat 'em, join 'em was my motto for this particular situation.

Our goal in parenting is to teach our children to love and follow Jesus, but also to love and serve one another. Today the girls were doing that on their own, in their own way. Who was I to ruin it simply because I had a headache?

Not saying it was easy. I just wanted to find a dark room, crawl in bed, and cover up with the comforter.  Sleep. Rest. Close my eyes and block out ALL noise and commotion.  Even the happy, jovial sounds of my 3 precious bundles.

I'm glad I made that choice.

I prepared lunch, no longer snipping at the girls to 'quiet down'.  It took a little longer to prepare than expected and making French Onion Soup needed to start while lunch was cooking.  Selah 'helped' me with all of it and the other littles stopped in here and there to inquire as to what I was doing, what was cooking.  A pitstop, as it were, in their rounds around the track that is our home.

We didn't manage to get to a craft but it forced me to smile at their games rather than wince and resulted in a much more pleasant afternoon overall.

A headache is no picnic, but grousing at the girls, who were so joyfully interacting with one another, wasn't making it any better.  Choosing to push through the annoying pain, choosing to smile and not snip at the girls, choosing to laugh with them rather than telling them to stop laughing so loud made a world of difference.

I did crawl into bed later that afternoon - the same time the girls had their naps - and it did help my less- than-fun headache, but encouraging the girls to continue in their positive interactions had a bigger impact on all of us.