Happy Halloween from a Happier Home

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

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

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.

My middle daughter 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 posts 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.

My youngest as Pikachu (a Pokemon character).

I love doing these 31 Day Challenges for myself, because it isn’t just about the 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!)

This post is part of my 31 Days to a Happier Home series. 

To see all the posts in this series, click here: 31 Days to a Happier Home