Happiness

Lots of bloggers have been talking about happiness recently, so I thought it might be my turn.

I don't think of myself as an UNhappy person, but I'm the first to admit I'm not always cheerful. I'm easily frustrated (a trait shared by my son) and sometimes find it hard to let go of things that are bothering me.

Life has thrown up some challenges over the last few months and I know I haven't met them with anything of the grace and good humour I would like. But I do keep trying to see the sunshine.

So, a top 12 of things that make me happy, in no particular order (if I added lists, it would be 13, so I won't):

1. Putting plants into our new garden with Little Miss Sunshine, who tells me that she LOVES gardening and that she can't WAIT for her strawberries to fruit. She speaks in capitalised words, truly.

2. The fact that LMS is the most naturally happy person in the world. It can't help rubbing off on me sometimes. She had a very difficult start to life - born at 26 weeks, 102 days in intensive care - and yet her capacity for joy is something to behold.

3. Talking to Mr Almost a Teen when he's in the mood. When he's not being monosyllabic, and we're not fighting (note the similarities in temperament), I love listening to my boy. He has a lovely mind. When he was three, he said to me 'Mummy, if you could taste the sun, it would be melted butter'.

4. Watching Andrew dedicate himself to teaching the kids things like riding a bike, throwing a baseball, catching a ball, etc. Even when I can tell he doesn't really want to do it, he does. Because he wants to be the best dad in the galaxy (which is what Phoebe calls him).

5. Listening to the kids this morning, talking about what they will eat for Phoebe's birthday dinner tomorrow night - 'I want snails for starters and I'm having the cheese plate for dessert'. Music to a foodie parent's ears.

6. Watching them in the kitchen with my mother. Every child should learn to cook something with their grandmother, especially if she writes cookbooks.

7. Catching Andrew and Phoebe pulling up in the car with the music on full blast, singing their heads off. I don't tend to like loud music, so when it's just the two of them, they really cut loose.

8. Talking about books and movies with Andrew (except when he asks me the plot of a novel that a) I have only just started or b) doesn't really have a 'plot').

9. Cooking a special meal that takes hours on a Saturday afternoon, just for the four of us. Or cooking food for a big party of friends.

10. 'Getting' (mind and body) a yoga pose that challenges me. It's a flow thing.

11. Reading a book (or a poem or anything) where a sentence or even just a phrase resonates so strongly that I think 'that's EXACTLY how I would have put it'.

12. Watching both the kids, curled up on the couch, totally engrossed in books.