Count my blessings

I could've written "Today was the WORST homeschool day EVER! I mean EVER!" DD5 kept leaving the table in the middle of lessons to 1.) get a drink from her bedroom instead of the one on the table, 2.) Run upstairs and gather toys so that it'd be ready for her when lessons were finished, and 3.) chase and catch her sister, who stood there taunting "try and catch me!" Obviously, her mind was not on lessons. When asked about the future, DD5 will answer that she will grow up to be a bum, so she doesn't have to read, and she will climb into the garbage and find her day old lunch. While I was on the phone, she was misbehaving so I stuck her on the couch. While on the couch (so not technically breaking any rules), she gathered all the toys she could & had all the little pieces from 3 different toys thrown about the room. It was not a good day. But then, as I sat folding laundry, she came in voluntarily and began to help. She took charge. She saw my stack of towels and happily announced "I'll put these away!" She folded wash clothes and hand towels. She handed some of the work to her sister and helped her put them away. She saw the clean Barbie pajamas and was so excited, she put several pairs of pajamas away (with the promise that I would let her wear Barbie pajamas to bed tonight). All of this was voluntary and done very cheerfully. And so, my lesson as mom today was: "Count your blessings". Things may not be going right in the way *I* think they should be, but things are going right in other ways.