There are days when the wildness of motherhood feels like it’s just too much, and it’s these exact days that we moms need to seek out our own gratitude practice.
You know those days when you pour your tea, forget it’s even on the counter, and find it cold hours later?
Or the days when the only thing louder than the mess is the ache to lie down for just five quiet, alone-time minutes.
But even here, between the sigh and the feeling of heaviness, there are tiny sparks, small joys that, if you pay attention, can make the day feel brighter.
Gratitude Practice
Lately, I’ve been trying a practice gratitude not as a performance, but as a soft rebellion.
Not the influencer-esque, “best life!” kind, but the type that sees sweetness in the shadows. Goodness in the pain. Determination in the hard work.
Things like a little, sticky hand resting on mine while I answer emails, or the way the sun pours across a heap of books on my kitchen table, painting light on the dinosaur figures lying on top.
Or a crumpled picture thrust in my direction, “For you, Mama!”—the kind of art I’m 100% going to cherish, even if it’s only scribbles in orange crayon. That gentle hush when the final bedtime story ends, and for a moment ~ just a moment ~ time stands still and I forget that they’re ever going to get bigger at all.
Noticing Small Magic
Your gratitude list doesn’t need to be huge, believe me. For me, some recent “tiny joys” have looked like:
- Two pairs of matching socks on the laundry pile (wins!)
- The softness of my favourite worn-in sweater.
- A deep breath that fills my lungs all the way, startling me into presence.
- Young belly laughter, unexpected, echoing down the hallway from my boys.
- A message from an old friend, right when I began to feel like it had been a touch too long.
Sometimes, gratitude is simply the space to finally finish a cup of my all time favourite tea ~ warm, milky, fragrant, grounding.
A Gentle Invitation
If you’d like, try this with me:
Pause right now, right here.
Look around you. Not for perfection, not even for “success,” but for one small, good thing.
Write it down, whisper it to yourself, or tuck it quietly into your mind like a pebble in your pocket.
Maybe it’s the weight of your child’s head on your shoulder, or the pale blue of the morning sky, or the hush that arrives as you read these words?
Let’s Share
If it feels safe to, I’d love for you to share one tiny joy in the comments below. Not for applause, not for recognition, but for solidarity. So we can all start to build a quilt of gratitude, one small beautiful moment at a time.
Permission, Softness, Repeat
On the days you feel stretched so thin you’re see-through, remember this:
You do not need to alchemise struggle into perfection.
Being a martyr is never good.
You are allowed to collect moments of joy, and I fully encourage and in fact order you to do so, haha! Even though the day-to-day can feel like a grind, it’s a simple mindset shift to see things from a different perspective.
Often, gratitude for what is, is all you’ll ever need in that exact moment. One tiny moment of hope is eternal in the field of reality.
For my written poetry, click here. And come say hello to me over on Instagram! I’d love to connect.
