Browsing Facebook this morning I read a friend's post describing a series of delightful interactions that had lit up their day. Nothing earth-shattering, just random, ordinary things on a regular day. It made me smile and I instantly thought, "Well, this is the opposite of an Alexander day!"
Judith Viorst's book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day came out when I was in high school, so it's not one of my own childhood favorites. Still, I must have read it to my younger sibs enough to be able to visualize the illustrations and to sympathize with Alexander all these decades later. I do not care for lima beans one bit and get anxious if I'm stuck in a middle seat in a car ride. (#motionSickness)
Like Alexander, it's not always the big things that throw me into a funk, it's the little stuff, the ordinary, the everyday. Like the printer that printed in the morning but won't print later that afternoon and the app that decided I needed to log in again right before checking in for PT and no, won't fill from my password app, and yes, needs a verification code sent to your email. No, not that email. Not that one either. My bath was too cold, my favorite pair of PJs was in the wash. Some days are just no good days. Even when you're not 7. Even in Bryn Mawr.
So...today I enjoyed exchanging cheery greetings with the young man at the desk at the YMCA, caught five minutes with Math Guy and their puppy, got a sandwich at my favorite food truck and brought one home for Math Man, too. I had an email about a writing project that made me laugh out loud. Some days are not-bad-at-all days.
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If you need cheering, I can recommend the reading of Alexander above. I adored the purring cat joining the chorus at the end. I appreciate that Alexander's mother doesn't try to cheer him up in the end, just acknowledges there are sometimes not good days. Even in Australia.
