The title of this post should be hummed to the tune of “Tell Me Something Good” by Chaka Kahn. If you don’t know it, or (God forbid) if you don’t know Chaka Kahn, please go spend some time on iTunes!!! I’ll wait…
So as I’ve mentioned we have our girls half the time. There are times that it feels like we don’t have nearly enough time to impart our wisdom of this world. I sometimes panic a little that time is flying by and soon they’ll be off to college and we won’t have had the time to tell them everything we think is important for them to know/learn. For this reason I try to take any and every opportunity possible to have a good discussion with them about things that we think are important.
There are times that I’m talking to them about something I feel is important and I’ll realize that while I might believe what’s coming out of my mouth, I may not actually DO what I’m telling them they should. These realizations should offer great material for this blog…what if I listened to what I tell the girls?!
Recently we’ve talked a lot about telling people how you feel about them. Now…obviously we say “I love you” to each other all the time…but we’ve been talking about how important it is to tell other people if you’re happy about something they’ve done for you. That goes for strangers as well as those with whom we have close relationships.
A couple weeks ago we were having lunch at McDonald’s. I have an unhealthy relationship with McDonald’s Diet Coke. So much so that I go there every day to get one. Okay, it’s possible that I actually go more than once per day. Look…I’ve tried to quit the junk and I can’t…we’ll leave it at that. At this particular McDonald’s there is a manager who is the loveliest woman. Every morning when I see her she is so kind, tells me I smell good (hearing that at 6:30am every weekday morning is fantastic), and she makes my morning brighter. So the girls and I were having lunch there and I saw a guy who appeared to be the owner. I made a point to tell him that this woman is just the best thing that has ever happened to me at 6:30am every weekday morning. He was very glad to hear it and said that people rarely speak to him about GOOD things.
I used it as an example for the girls that we really need to tell people when they do something nice, or when they are great friends, and we need to thank people often.
In the past several days I’ve referenced my fabulous girlfriends more than once. This will likely be a recurring theme. I have the most wonderful girlfriends ever. They are brilliant, wickedly funny, sarcastic, strong, and they don’t sugar coat. I’m pretty sure that at some point in my life had I not had these women I would have stopped breathing. I’m not certain it’s physically possible to die due to lack of girlfriends but I wouldn’t want to chance it.
There are so many times when I’ve thought about how ridiculously lucky I am to have these friends. I can think of a million instances right this second when each of these women has absolutely saved my life…or at least my sanity…or the life of someone else that I was ready to pummel. Every once and awhile I will actually call one of them to tell them how lucky I am to have them. But…I admit…it doesn’t happen often.
I can preach to my little girls that they need to tell people when they are grateful/thankful/glad to have them in their lives, but the truth is, I rarely do it myself. Why?! I mean seriously, I write thank you notes to people for any little teensy thing, but I’ve never written thank you notes to the women who make-up my support system. I mean…now that I’m thinking about it…it’s crazy.
People deserve to be recognized for just being good true friends. Great friends aren’t easy to come by so why would I not do everything in my power to make them understand how important they are to me? Sheesh…I feel like I’ve fallen down on the job…
TODAY: What if I TELL THEM when I’m thinking about how lucky I am to have them? If any of you girls read this, you know who you are, keep your eyes on your mailboxes! And I’m sorry it’s taken me so long.
MAMACADABRA 