You ever have one of those days as a young mom where every little crash and scream makes you want to cry and your ponytail is too tight and you really want a shower and you’ve spent the entire day preparing food and yet are still starving and the next time someone needs you, you might just disappear?

Perspective always helps me on those days. We’re only halfway through the afternoon and my eyes are hot with tears, my stomach in knots.

Today I could use some perspective. There’s lots of blessings in my life but here’s one I’ve seen a lot of lately. Here’s 10 ways my husband has blessed me:

1. He is my dishwasher. We got rid of our dishwasher in our remodel and with seven people in the house, we do a lot of dishes. As the sink fills up, my anxiety levels rise too, and as long as my husband is home he’ll get them done.
2. He’s taken over bedtime for the three year old. I put all five kids to bed by myself every single night for a year and it was exhausting. The older two are easy and the twins are sweet and snuggly and need their mama. The middle one needs to poop, then forgot his airplane downstairs–no, in the bathroom–no, under the trampoline, then can’t find the car he’s now attached to, then needs more water, then needs to poop again, then left his blanket downstairs, then still needs to poop. My husband runs all over the house being his bedtime butler now instead of me and I am eternally grateful.
3. He wants to learn more about our different personalities and how they interact. Jordan Peterson recommended a personality test called Understand Myself so he signed us up, and it provided us lots of valuable insight about how we’re different and how that affects our marriage. I appreciate that even though we’ve figure out a lot in 8 years, he recognizes that there’s still more to learn and wants to learn it.
4. He doesn’t fight with the procrastinator in me. Last summer, we mostly completed our kitchen and upstairs remodel; all that is left is the paint and trim. You know, the part that makes it look good. In March, I bought all the paint and all the trim, and guess how much is on the walls? Spoiler: it’s all in the garage. And even though he is a doer and wants to get it done, he’s letting me work at my own pace.
5. While I procrastinate, he finds new projects. Instead of complaining about waiting, he finds something new to work on such as clearing land and building an orchard or building a natural pool out of a mini pond.
6. He’s fixed our pool. I abandoned it during the year my husband was deployed and it’s been a nightmare to clean, but he’s committed and he’s doing it without complaining. Thanks, babe.
7. He’s equally down to wrestle and snuggle with the kiddos. I am constantly overstimulated and want nothing less than to have my hair played with or my clavicle clawed at or a 60lb 7 year old sprawled on top of me while I’m trying to read, so I love that my husband wants to take on the snuggling and the wrestling and the play fighting.
8. He helped me prepare lunches for my week on Sunday. I spend so much time in the kitchen and yet still constantly feel like I have nothing to eat, mostly because the little leeches consume everything prepared within 3 seconds and then still complain that they’re just so hungry and they just can’t even wait! The little bit of thought he put into helping me prepare for the week was so appreciated.
9. He is overcoming his raw dough phobia to further my sourdough obsession. When I time my bread making wrong and don’t want to stay up late to stretch and fold my sticky, squishy dough, he’ll do it for me even though the texture of raw dough in his hands has always been one of those things he really despises.
10. He told me to buy the dress. There is this lovely Daughter’s of India dress I’ve been eyeing for months but at $165 it’s simply too expensive. After searching for one secondhand, and searching, and searching, and searching, I finally found one at a good price. Well–a good price considering that they have great resale value. I still couldn’t stomach $70 for one piece of clothing but I also couldn’t stop thinking about it and he told me to buy it. I don’t need his permission in our marriage but I sure do appreciate his support.

There’s not much to this post today, just a short list. I have nothing profound to add, no great wisdom–just a list. A list that I wrote for me, to remember that even on days when I want to scream and cry and disappear, the best friend and life partner that God gave me is a blessing, as are the five precious, feral maniacs who grace my home.

Counting blessings has always been good medicine.

If you need me, I’ll be hiding in my closet with a cup of tea and an entire bar of chocolate. Peace out, friends.