My Epic Fails

Today has been one of those awful, bad-from-the-start kind of days.

I don’t like to complain and I do not condone negativity, but it’s been a day where everything has just turned out badly. Sometimes you just have to laugh and humor others with the series of epic fails that was your day. So, here is a look at today in the life of The Ameri Brit Mom:

– I overslept. Isn’t this like indication #1 that your day is doomed to fail? I’m pretty sure I hit snooze ten times and most of those were in a state of unconsciousness. It’s normally not that difficult to get myself moving, but for some reason 5:30am came too soon for me today.

–I had 10 minutes to prepare a stew. We are having a friend of my husband’s over for dinner tonight. I’ve mentioned before that I love my crockpot when it comes to weekday meals. So I had intentionally planned out last night how I would wake up early today and go through my morning routine with the addition of prepping a crockpot beef stew for tonight. Only, I didn’t plan on oversleeping. (The plan worked well in my head)

–My daughter peed all over the kitchen floor. We are currently in the potty training stage in our family. As I was prepping the beef stew as quickly as possible, my chopping and tossing must have awoken my daughter. She came into the kitchen and stood beside me as I chopped away at the onions and potatoes. She was barely awake. I know the rules of potty training well and I am usually so adamant that she uses the toilet the minute she wakes up, but I was busy this morning and running behind schedule so I asked my daughter to wait until I was done cutting vegetables before we went to the potty. Almost on cue she released the dam which not only filled her diaper, covered her pajamas and feet, but also dampened the kitchen floor. (How she holds that much urine in her tiny bladder at all astounds me!)

– I forgot my coffee. Friends, and viewers if you know anything about me at all you know that I am a bear without my coffee in the morning. Give me a warm cup of caffeine infused deliciousness and I can conquer all. But, forget the coffee on the kitchen table and I’m a big ball of forgotten tasks, exhaustion, and a downright bad mood. So, knowing these downfalls about myself and my own inability to function without first feeding this addiction I ran through the nearest McDonalds drive-thru on my way to school.

–The McDonalds coffee was cold. Need I say more about how this is a mood-wrecker?

–I witnessed a dog die on my way to work. As I drove the five minute commute to the school where I work I noticed that a couple of blocks ahead of me there was some kind of animal running in and out of the road. As I neared the animal I realized it was a dog. The owner was trying to coerce the large dog back into the house that it had so obviously escaped, but it was so darn excited to be free that it was refusing to comply. In the end, a poor driver who really was being very cautious not to hit the dog tried to go for it when the dog finally left the road. The dog must’ve thought the driver was trying to play a game and bounded right back out in the road and in front of the car. The driver tried to stop, but it was too late. He hit the dog. I watched the owner’s face as her dog was being hit and I saw the driver of the car pull over and stop. He comforted the dog owner apologetically, and from the body language I could decipher the owner did not seem to hold the driver responsible. But, I was bawling as I witnessed the whole thing. I was stopped along with other cars in the traffic jam that had been created. Rest in peace Freedom Runner (that’s what I named the dog…to myself)

–I was late to work. Well, I wasn’t late in the sense that I missed the beginning of my first class, but I was late for me. The oversleeping, coffee stop, and dog fiasco put me behind my usual schedule. Luckily, my normal arrival time is much earlier than I HAVE to be at school. I just didn’t have as much time to mentally prepare myself before my classroom was overrun by teenagers.

All of this happened before 7:30 AM!!! (Be honest how many of you were even awake by that time?)

I say all of this to show that I am in no way perfect. Life is rough sometimes. I mess up sometimes and I don’t handle stress the best or healthiest way. But in the few short minutes between arriving in my classroom and welcoming my students to first period I took a moment and prayed to God. I gave this day to Him. I refused to let these annoying circumstances steal my joy. And…God came through. He changed my perspective and allowed me to have peace as I began my day. I even had one student ask, “Why are you so happy today?” Although I wish I could have answered that question with total transparency about my faith I know the rules in a public school. My response was instead another version of the full truth, “I have a lot to be thankful for.”

Don’t let life steal your joy. Be thankful for all the good things and FORGET about the bad!