Living with a toddler is full of ups and downs…

Some days she’s sweet and obedient…

Others– she’s stubborn and mischievous…

And most days she’s a mix of both…

And it’s fine. It’s good. It’s what’s to be expected with an almost 2-year-old. And I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

But for some reason her difficult days always seem to fall on the same days when I’m struggling– feeling tired or cranky or maybe just hormonal.

“When it rains it pours” and all that…

Well, today it literally rained… A lot. More specifically it snowed and then sleeted and then rained.

No doubt my frustration at another morning cooped up in the house rubbed off on her… Or maybe she was just feeling antsy herself.

Either way this morning was…challenging.

But then something amazing happened. She took a nap. And I took a nap. And when we woke up the rain had stopped and the sun had come out.

And while I was tempted to laze around in the shadow of our difficult morning, I forced myself to get up, to get outside, to enjoy the little bit of sunshine and the relative warmth of the afternoon with my sweet toddler, our dog Henry, and (added bonus!) my Dad (Addie’s papa).

And it was great. And needed….

I’d love to say that the rest of our evening went smoothly. That there were no tears or tantrums– that the sun came out and our day turned around completely.

But that just wouldn’t be true.

There will be rain. There will be sun. I think I’m learning that this whole motherhood thing is about embracing them both.