100 Happy Days

Have you heard of 100 Happy Days? 

I've seen people using the hashtag on Facebook and Instagram posts for a week or so, but just got involved yesterday.  You can sign up via www.100happydays.com  if you fancy joining in. The idea is to take a photograph every day, for 100 days, of something that makes you happy, and post it via your social media of choice.  I joined in on Instagram and here are my first two posts:

Oops. Hadn't really noticed they were both alcoholic!  That doesn't look good, does it?

I really like these little challenges. I've joined in with 'photo a day' challenges (usually via Fat Mum Slim) a couple of times, where you get a daily word prompt and submit a word on that theme.  I find that they really make you stop and notice things a bit more. You know, if you're looking for something yellow, you might notice, and pause to look at, some pretty flowers that you would ordinarily have walked straight past.  My problem with the daily word prompts was that I would get 'stuck' on a day.  I wouldn't be able to think of anything to photograph, but wouldn't want to move on to the next day leaving one out (no no no, far too messy for my OCD tendancies :-) and then I'd give up on the whole month, because I'm competitive, in that bad way that means as soon as I realise I'm not going to 'win' at something, I give up and/or loose interest.  I know, it's not one of my best traits!

I'm hoping that, like this blog, I keep it up with 100 Happy Days. I think it's an excellent prompt, just to take a moment at the end of the day and have a think about what made you happy. As a mum, there are many moments during the day that make me happy, that involve my children.  Watching my beautiful girls play together, having funny little conversations with Evie, or seeing Lola understand something for the first time, but these 100 things are for me, and are not likely to feature the girls. Partly because we have a 'no pictures of the kids on the internet' rule (I make the odd exception for showing the back of their heads, or similar restricted views, in the name of showing off crafts!) but also because I think it's important as a mum, especially a 'full time stay at home' mum, to remember that your life is not just about the kids.  That can be so easy to forget sometimes, when you're caught up in the seemingly non stop 'Cook, feed, tidy, shout 'no', repeat' cycle of daily life with toddlers.  It's easy to forget who 'you' are, outside of mum, and what makes you happy as a person.  I really struggle with this sometimes, so hopefully 100 Happy Days will help me with that.  

Sign up, see if it helps you too.  And if you do, let me know so I can check out your photos!