Happy Halloween from a Happier Home

I don’t really have a photo for this post, so here are some Halloween photos of my kids from today. This is Bria as “Miranda Sings.”

The one issue with this Write 31 Days challenge is that it ends on Halloween day, which is usually a little too busy for me to find time to do a really great blog. But luckily, Halloween is the last day of the challenge, so it’s a perfect time to give an accounting of how things went.

When I started the series, I brainstormed a bunch of ideas. The things I thought of included those things I already do well that make our home happier, but I also thought of many things I wanted to do better or start doing that would also help our happiness level.

Chloe as John Lennon.

This month I have to say I was much more thoughtful of my husband and children.

I have served my husband more.

I have been more grateful.

I have gotten more sleep (except on the nights I had to stay up late to get one of these blogs written!).

I showed up more often.

I read with my kids more (we are currently reading A Wrinkle in Time).

I kept better track of our schedule.

I was happier.

And because I was happier, everyone else was happier, too.

Amazing.

And the funny thing is that of the 31 ideas I brainstormed, I only ended up using about 20 of them. Sometimes the day just dropped other things in my lap and I learned a lot of great lessons about how a happy home is made this month. I was more aware of how everything I did affected the family as a whole.

Sophia as Pikachu (a Pokemon character).

I love doing these 31 Day Challenges for myself, because it isn’t just about writing. It’s about writing about a specific topic and ultimately changing my life. I’m looking forward to continuing to apply the things I’ve learned (or re-learned) this month.

Hooray for a happier home!

(And Happy Halloween!)