We all get them from time to time.  Days when nothing seems to go right.  It’s been like that today, though it did get a bit better towards the end.  I’ll spare you the details.  Just the usual kind of things that go wrong when you have very little sleep and a lot of children, and it all seems too much.  I don’t know what it is about today, but I have lost count of the number of facebook posts I have read from people who have had a bad day.  I could have posted something similar, and in a certain mood I would have done.  But two things have put my day in perspective today.

This afternoon I was on the way to the park to meet a friend and her children, and all my children were on their scooters.  Maybe it was a bit ambitious, though I did have the buggy with me as well.  They were all being sensible and Tiddler was listening, doing what he was told and stopping when I asked him.  Then suddenly he lost control of his scooter.  He sped up at just the wrong moment as we were heading towards a road we had to cross, and the pavement sloped down sharply towards the corner.  As the other three were slowing down to stop, Tiddler sailed past and was clearly going to land in the road.  Although I had been right next to him, he was suddenly out of reach and there was nothing I could do to stop him.  I couldn’t see round the corner so I had no idea if there were any cars coming.  Thankfully there weren’t, but he fell off his scooter right in the middle of the road and it was maybe two or three seconds before I got to him.  It felt like a long time.  I was quite shaken up when I got to the park.  Almost as soon as we arrived, it started to rain, and we all came back to our house.  The day got better from that point because the children played together really well and I enjoyed my friend’s company.  But also because I knew it could have been a day that changed my life forever.  And because it wasn’t, the little things that had gone wrong didn’t seem so bad after all.

The second thing that has put my day in perspective is that today is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day today.  All over the world, in every time zone, candles were lit at 7pm, in remembrance of babies who have died, and families who have been affected.  This is our candle.  It is not our story, but it is the story of many friends of mine.  Too many.  I am remembering.  I know how lucky I am.  I am thankful for what I have.