My six-year-old had her first taco for Taco Bell this week. I know, proud parenting moment over here! But seriously, it was one soft shell taco. And her response to it taught me so much about noticing goodness.
This little girl loves her some food. Among her favorites? Chili, baked mac and cheese, strawberry pie and tacos.
My husband thought it would be fun to grab her a soft-shell taco with no lettuce when he ran to Taco Bell for his own snack. To make it more special, she rode with him, sat in the drive-thru line and then got her own delicious pack of greasy goodness.
She came home so excited to eat her late-night snack with dad. She hopped up at the table, opened the tortilla and exclaimed, “Look at that meat and cheese! And this taco shell! Mmmm. So good. This is so good. We should eat here more! This is so good!”
Have you ever found so much goodness in a taco?
I mean, she’s got one thing right–those cheap Taco Bell treats are sort of amazing. But she also taught me that there are simple pleasures that deserve a second look….a chance to notice the goodness.
It’s super easy to see the bad things. You know, the day when you are on your way to pick up your car after it was repaired from a freak accident–and you hear a little voice from the backseat tell you that, while she did not open the plastic container with her ear tube in it (right, that’s another story), it’s missing. The sister next to her says she left her homework at school, which means a drive back and find someone to unlock the classroom door and dig out her homework folder. Oh and in 12 hours you are leaving for MOMcon in Indianapolis and you haven’t started packing.
Ugh bad! How could this all be happening at once? Bad, bad, bad.
For a day I dwelled on it. I repeated the bad story to anyone who would listen. Why would she open the plastic jar? Why would the other forget her homework? Don’t they know I have stuff to do before I do the MOMcon thing for five days?
Then, as I walked through the kitchen and heard my kiddos expressing her admiration for this Taco Bell soft taco and it stuck with me. This week, I’ve been thinking about that anytime I need a reminder that we need to stop, pause and notice goodness. It’s way better than thinking about the lost ear tube or the forgotten homework or the fact that my car had to spend 2.5 weeks at the shop because of a silly piece of metal (also another post).
So here are some good things I’ve noticed today:
- Trying a new breakfast on a menu of a new restaurant
- The opportunity to be at MOMcon
- The luxury of having a husband who is a Marriott Elite member when I’m staying at a Marriott hotel.
- Spoken word poetry.
- Cat naps
- Good Christian rock
- Friends
- Selfie sticks
- Free goodies
- Wine
I could gush about these using the phrases my daughter did. I could peel back the soft shell and proclaim:
Look at that ________ How awesome is that! It’s so __________. Wow. I’m so lucky.
I’m looking for ways to make a conscious effort each day to notice goodness. I’m open to suggestions!