For all the things that I try to teach my kids each day, Evelyn taught me an important lesson today. She asked me a simple question: “How was your day?” I was getting dinner ready at the time, and was slightly distracted. So I answered with the standard “My day was fine.” I did have a fine day. It was productive but I didn’t think that it was particularly good or bad. Just fine. And then she asked “Was your day wonderful and beautiful?”

And I had to stop for a second. Yes. Yes it was.

I saw two young kids building a snowman. Their enthusiasm and joy was wonderful.

I dropped off some clothes at the consignment store that I’d been meaning to take for a few weeks. It felt good to get that done, and I got a pair of jeans for Abby that I thought would make her smile. And they did make her smile. That was wonderful.

I shovelled the driveway with Abby after school and the snow falling was beautiful.

When we picked up Evelyn from daycare, she greeted me with an enthusiasm that was wonderful.

It’s so easy to think that my day was fine if nothing out of the ordinary happened. But it’s good to be reminded that my day doesn’t have to be extraordinary to be wonderful and beautiful.