Happy with the small things

In a world where everything looks perfect all of the time in can be easy to get dragged into the "I'm not good enough" thoughts. That's why I spend time thinking about the small things that make me happy, after all it's not all about having plenty of money or buying a new iPad - true happiness is more than that.

Think about it - when are you at your happiest?

Just after buying a new piece of tech? 

OR

When your children are having a wonderful time somewhere?

I admit getting a new iPad or other gadget is awesome, it's so much fun messing about with new tech and learning about it. But nothing makes me more happy than seeing my children smiling and laughing as they play around in the park or run off ahead while we chase them making monster noises. 

A sunny day

Nothing lifts my mood quite like getting up in a morning to the sun shining and no clouds in the sky. Not only does it help me start my day motivated but it helps me stay that way. There's just something so uplifting about a sunny day - and not just for me but for our entire family. 

We may work indoors but even seeing the sun out of the windows makes a difference. And being able to walk our youngest to school while the sun shines is brilliant. It means we can walk and chat without worrying about being rained on. We can look around as we walk and see beautiful flowers all around, filling the world with a rainbow of colours. 

Living in the UK having a glorious sunny day is rare, which is why it makes such an impact on us. I'm hoping we get to see more sunny days like we did on the last May bank holiday - it was lovely.

Music

The right playlist can snap you out of a bad mood quicker than saying "chocolate anyone?". I used to love listening to a CD (yes, I'm that old!😉) album called Happy Songs, it featured lots of summer themed songs and it always lifted my mood. Playing the right song at the right time can make such a change to everyone - and often, if you're anything like us, those songs begin to remind you of things. For us the song "Love Shack" by the B52's reminds us of driving in Orlando, when we were last on holiday it was our go-to song first thing in a morning when we were driving to the parks. There's also "The Final Countdown" by Europe, which reminds me of something entirely different - being in labour and driving to the hospital! Hubby played it as he drove me to the hospital, we were preparing for LP to arrive!

If music be the food of love, play on.

William Shakespeare

Music has played a huge part in my life for as long as I can remember, my dad (now in a band) brought me up listening to the old rockers and I have always loved all kinds of music. I listen to classical, rock, and pop - and even alternative music sometimes! I still love listening to the radio in the car but I also love original soundtracks from movies or musicals too. 

What is your favourite music?

Eating together

With the dinner table set I enjoy sitting down to eat a meal with my family. This is something we do regularly - most days in fact - but I still enjoy it every time. The best days are when I serve a meal we all love like Spaghetti Bolognese or Cheesy Spaghetti with Turkey Mince - it's great to watch my children enjoy a meal I have prepared. I feel good because they're eating something I've prepared but I also know everything they're consuming because I prepared it from scratch. I know exactly what they're eating. 

Walking

It doesn't really matter what the weather is like (as long as it's not raining lots!) walking is always nice. When it's cold and frosty you wrap up warm, maybe even take a flask of hot chocolate, and enjoy a brisk walk to stay warm. When it's sunny and you need your shades it's a lovely walk because you can stay out longer and enjoy the sunshine. 

We love walking, we're doing lots of it as the weather improves and it's a great way of trying to lose weight too. Walk in your local park, along a nearby canal, or even drive to somewhere new and walk. Over the next few weeks we're planning a few walking trips and are hopefully going to do something different every week. It does get boring if you walk the same place all the time so we make sure we go to different places.

Do you enjoy walking?

Waking up to a happy house

When you can get up in a morning, wake everyone else up, and everyone is happy - that is the best! I have a 13 (almost 14) year old son (BP) and a 9 year old son (LP). BP likes to stay in bed in a morning, especially on school days, and LP has just started to enjoy staying in bed too. 

LP used to be up early, I'd be lucky to get time by myself in a morning even if I got up at 6am, for the last week or two though he's changed. I'm sure it has to do with becoming a tween, he's definitely staying in bed much later and I have no doubt if I didn't get him up he would stay in bed. It takes them both time to wake up in a morning, and more often than not one of them is grumpy. I don't blame them, I didn't used to like mornings either, but this is why I enjoy those rare days when everyone is happy. 

Good hair days

With hair that is epically thick it can be difficult to get a good hair day, even more so when you spend most days tying it back to keep it out of the way. I visit my hairdressers every 6 weeks and she has to cut into my mop lots every time, my hair seems to grow incredibly fast.

My good hair days tend to fall just after visiting the hairdressers. Obviously I have good hair days the day I go to the hairdressers, and then one or two after that, but then I have to spend the next 6 weeks wrestling my thick locks into submission. I've tried a bun, which is difficult to keep tidy because my hair has a mind of its own (!), I've tried a ponytail - but at 37 am I getting too old for a ponytail? I've tried a banana clip, unfortunately my hair is so thick I have yet to find a banana clip that won't snap when I'm trying to put it in! That's why on most days you'll see me with somewhat wavy and frizzy hair, I give up trying to do anything with it until I can get to the hairdressers again. 

The good hair days make me want to dance around the room - when every strand of hair sits nicely, behaves itself and stays there all day, it's brilliant. 

Board games

There is no doubt we LOVE board games, from Carcassonne to Dixit we have loved going though a huge list of board games. We get to sit around the table as a family and play a game. During the game we'll talk about all kinds of things and sometimes the boys get to learn. 

What I love most about Board Games is that LP has started to ask us to play games. He really enjoys the family time and looks forward to new board games about as much as we do, despite sometimes not being old enough to completely understand. 

Looking through old photos

Despite having hundreds of old photos in photo albums we rarely look through them. The best we do these days is looking through them on the Mac, but that means all the printed photos we have from when BP was a baby rarely get looked at. We have lots of photos up on the walls around the house and it's lovely to walk past them and notice them once in a while but the photo albums are priceless.

Instagram was created because there was no single place dedicated to giving your mobile photos a place to live and to be seen.

Kevin Systrom

Old photos are especially important when they feature someone you've lost, like my father-in-law. We were looking through some photos the other day and we saw one with him in it, he was smiling (we were on holiday) and playing with the boys in a pool. It was truly lovely and my heart hurt just a little bit. 

Photos are SO special, I take hundreds of them and I often ask myself why but then after a few years I look back at the ones I just snapped and think "I'm so glad I did that". I don't think you can ever regret capturing those memories so I say snap away!

Material things do make me happy, especially when I can get into one of my favourite dresses, but it's the kind of happy that won't necessarily last. The list above are things that make me eternally happy, they mostly cost nothing but they mean so much. 

What small things make you happy?

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