Little Letdowns

I've come to realize that life is full of little letdowns... I'll plan, prepare, and then the culmination of all my efforts are simply not up to my expectations.

Case in point. I love finding new recipes. I'll find something that just sounds amazing and set about gathering the ingredients, spend the time cooking everything, timing it all just right to be presented on the table with flourish, and then take that anticipated first bite, and eh. Just eh. Let down.

I'll put together a lesson plan for the kids for the week. Go to the library to find the right books, prepare all the materials to do associated crafts, even plan snacks that go along with the theme. Come 9:00am, I'll gather the children, and Kevin will refuse to listen to the story, Laura will eat the craft materials, and neither one will want to eat the snack (except the dog). Let down.

I'll pick up a book that I keep hearing people RAVE about, only to find myself snoring after 20 pages. Let down.

I realize that there are bigger things at work here - I am feeding my family healthy foods and more often than not, exposing my kids to the ideas and work involved in planning a meal as well as different tastes and ways of cooking. I am introducing the idea of planning, preparing, and performing. I may not be able to get through a lesson plan one day or have my hours of planning last longer than about 20 minutes of execution, but the very next day, more than likely, the kids are totally excited to see what Mommy has planned.

Maybe I've just a had a few too many of these things go wrong lately. Well, not wrong, just not quite meeting my expectations. I hope for excitement, appreciation, and a job well done. Guess I can't score perfectly every time, I know I won't stop trying, but maybe I need to lower my expectations just a little bit.