My last couple of list posts have focused on negative things – 5 Things I have grown to hate since having kids and The 6 worst (non-serious) things that can happen to you so this time I am taking a more positive slant with a list of simple pleasures that I enjoy regularly. But first I must give a shout out to my blog twin (as I now call her), mskatykins as she and I seem to be developing a habit of coming up with the same ideas for our blog posts. Only yesterday she wrote a post with a list of things she was thankful for, which is in a very similar vein to this post which I had already started composing. Anyway, without further ado…

5 DAILY PLEASURES

1) A hot shower – I love my daily shower. The hot powerful jets of water cascading over me, I could spend hours in there. It is also an opportunity for me to get lost in my thoughts. Many a blog post or piece of writing has been composed in my head whilst in the shower, even if it is interrupted with the occasional “Mum I’m hungry! Can I have…”.

2) The first cup of tea of the day - I drink quite a lot of tea and coffee throughout the day (don’t judge me), but nothing quite beats that first cup which serves to save me from the early signs of dehydration that have set in overnight.

3) Hugs – Hugs are great right? We hug when we are happy and when we are sad, we hug to say hello and to say goodbye, we hug to show sympathy or support, and we hug to congratulate. What else but a hug is appropriate to so many situations? I like to hug my kids and my partner as much as possible, and I’m sure you do too (although I do wish you would stop hugging my kids and partner, and find your own). But why stop at loved ones? Hug your neighbour, hug your cat, hug your neighbour’s cat, or if all else fails, hug yourself; you deserve it.

4) Eating – Eating is definitely one of life’s great daily pleasures, and I try to always make a point of appreciating having plenty of good food available to me, because not everybody does.

5) Laughter – I laugh a lot, as often as possible. If something funny happens I try and remember it often so that I can laugh again. I laugh about things that happened years ago, so the older I get, the more stock of things I have to laugh about.

2 WEEKLY PLEASURES

1) Cooking a roast dinner – Most Sundays, if we’re home in the evening, then I’ll cook a roast dinner. It’s not just that we all enjoy eating a roast, it’s also the cooking process that I enjoy. I hang out in the kitchen for the whole two or so hours that it takes to cook. I put the radio on, I pour myself a glass of something nice, and I have the laptop open on a counter top so that I can dip into Facebook, Twitter, and blog reading in between tending to the dinner. The kids will pop in and out wanting to help, or just to show me something. It is always a lovely, relaxed couple of hours for me.

2) Climbing into freshly laundered bed sheets – How wonderful are clean sheets? The gentle lingering scent of lavender and jasmine emanating from the cool crisp white cotton sheets. Heaven.

As you go about your daily business, it’s always worth taking a bit of time to appreciate the simple pleasures.