Mia Freedman Thursday 29 March 2012 12:21pm

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Here I am today with Remy, trying to type this post

The first thing I saw when I turned on my phone with bleary eyes early this morning was a message from my nanny saying she was sick and couldn’t come to work. I was due at the Today Show in less than an hour and it struck me immediately that this was not ideal.

I rely on my nanny on the three days a week she comes. She’s like balm on our family with her supreme organisational skills and masterly ability to love and discipline my children as if they were her own. She also brings her baby daughter to work who we are all besotted with.

Arrangements were hastily made in my head and then translated to my husband as we reorganised our day to work around our nanny being away. Jason dropped the two older kids at school and brought Remy into the office.

I headed to Channel 9, did the Today Show (you can see Karl, Lisa and I have an interesting and sometimes frustrating discussion here) and then went to the office. Jason and Remy had already arrived (we work together – Jason is the CEO of Mamamia) and they were both sitting at his desk munching banana bread and hot chocolates.

Armed with my ipad, I attempted Operation Distraction which has been only partially successful as I’ve tried to salvage some work time from needing to entertain my rambunctious 3 year old. As I type this, he is half-undressed and spilling yoghurt over the carpet in the office I share with MM’s Managing Editor Lana (who fortunately loves children and is endlessly patient and able to work despite the blaring of Wonderpets coming from my ipad).

But instead of bitching and whinging about it, I have been feeling very thankful today. Thankful that I can afford to have a nanny. Thankful that I have the job flexibility that allows me to bring my son to work when there is no other option. Thankful that my husband and I can work as a (SWAT) team to cover each other in a childcare crisis.

It reminded me of Thx Thx Thx ,a website begun by Leah Dieterich, a creative director and writer in LA. It’s based on the premise of writing thank you notes, and not just to people who had you over for dinner or gave you a birthday present. This is the delightfully quirky catch.

Her ‘About’ page describes it like this:

Leah Dieterich’s mother always told her to write thank you notes. So she does. To everything. thxthxthx is her daily exercise in gratitude.

There’s always something to be thankful for. From the important things like Songs You’re Embarrassed to Like, and Heavy Eyelids that Tell You When You Need to Sleep, to friends and family, love and loneliness, light and darkness, Leah Dieterich sets out to acknowledge them all. thxthxthx is her daily exercise in gratitude.

Here are a few examples from her site which she updates daily with a new note:

Thxthxthx

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I just love it.  So I thought it might be a lovely way to throw some balm over any frayed nerves today by writing my own thank you note and I encourage you to do the same. Come back as many times as you like and leave some more. I plan to.

Dear Virus That My Nanny Has,

Thank you for reminding me that I’m lucky to have her and fortunate that her being sick is something my life can accomodate without too much stress.

Love

Mia xxxx