Summary

The author reflects on the challenges and rewards of the first day of a bedtime journal habit focused on gratitude, despite a difficult day marked by family conflicts over an Xbox One.

Abstract

The author is participating in a November Gratitude Challenge, which on Day 1 involves journaling about three things one is thankful for. The author finds this task more challenging than expected due to a particularly trying day involving a sleepover with energetic tweens and a dispute between the author's daughters over the Xbox One. Despite the tension, the author manages to identify three things to be grateful for: the Xbox One's parental controls, the return of the original "Grease" on Netflix, and the family's preparedness for an upcoming cold spell. These reflections help the author find a sense of appreciation and reconnection with the family after a day of emotional turmoil.

Opinions

The author initially underestimated the difficulty of the bedtime journal habit, especially on a day filled with family conflicts.
The author expresses frustration with having to mediate the Xbox One dispute between the daughters, feeling that their arguments are unfairly skewed and that neither daughter was satisfied with the resolution.
The author acknowledges the emotional immaturity of the youngest daughter, who had a meltdown following the Xbox One ruling, indicating a struggle with managing her emotions.
The author appreciates the Xbox One's parental controls as a solution to fairly allocate gaming time, removing the need for constant

November Gratitude Challenge

Bedtime Journal Habit-Day 1

3 things I’m thankful for today-11/10/19

Yesterday I started a gratitude challenge and I posted about 5 things I’m grateful for overall. That post was pretty easy.

It’s Day 2 of the November Gratitude Challenge and the challenge is to start a bedtime journal habit of giving thanks for 3 things I’m grateful for from the day.

As I sat down to do this, I realized this challenge is a little harder. Even though it seems similar to yesterday’s challenge, it’s really not. At least it wasn’t today.

It was a rougher day than usual for me so finding the things I am grateful for from today was a bit tougher.

The Precursor

My youngest daughter had a sleepover with two of her friends last night which is typically a pretty fun time. But for whatever reason this time, the girls were extra rowdy, loud, and just full of energy. Not that I can’t handle tweens with energy and loud voices, because typically I can. But this time it seemed everything got on my nerves.

During the course of the night, my youngest daughter and my 15 year old had yet ANOTHER argument over the XBox One system. We’ve had the game system since Christmas last year thanks to the generosity of a relative.

Normally they manage to share it pretty well. Until they don’t.

Last night was one of those rare not sharing well at all nights. My youngest felt she should have unlimited control of the system because her friends were over.

The older daughter insisted that the previous agreement was she could play on weekends if her friends were playing (and of course they were last night).

So of course the argument escalates to the point where Mom has to step in. I hate having to do that and I normally let them work things out themselves. But last night I felt I needed to step in and so after listening to both sides, I made my ruling.

Suffice it to say neither daughter was happy. Each of them felt that I was being unfair, (I’ll write about the mistake of being a “fair” parent another day), and each of them insisted that I ALWAYS favored the other child.

If you’re a parent who has ever heard this complaint from your children, you know how it feels.

I’m left wondering how I can ALWAYS favor each of them…LOL but tweens and teens have a very present-time focused perspective.

I should have right then and there worked out a longer term solution for the XBox One argument. I didn’t.

So this afternoon, lo and behold, the XBox One was the center of yet another argument. And this time, when I made my ruling, the youngest daughter who was running on very little sleep from the night before, had a full blown meltdown.

She’s the youngest of four, and the baby, so there was zero reasoning with her for the first two hours after my decision. She pouted, she stomped, she cried, all in an attempt to get me to change my ruling but to I’m sure her dismay, her tantrum didn’t get the results she hoped.

This brings me to the 3 things I’m grateful for today:

I’m grateful that Microsoft/XBox One does have parental controls that allowed this mama to set “fair” time limits for each child from this point on. They will each have the same number of hours per day to play. This should mean I no longer have to referee. It allows them to monitor their own activity which is a great skill for them to learn as they get older.
I’m grateful for Netflix adding the original version of “Grease” back to its list of shows this month. It’s a family favorite for us. Watching it together was a great way for us to reconnect after such a big emotional upheaval.
I’m grateful that with the coming arctic blast, we have enough blankets, warm clothes, and heaters to hunker down and stay cozy inside if we need to.

So those are my 3 things I’m grateful for today.

Nothing fancy. But it’s enough for today.