1 . My husband sat down on the bed. “Your ________ are complete ridiculous, Denise. These gifts don’t have to be perfect. The kids don’t care.”

I ________ him and kept wrapping the gifts. Each boy needed to have his own paper, and each gift ________ to be wrapped perfectly. Actually, I always ________to do everything perfectly. I suspected my entire family lived in ________ of my standards. I told myself I was just taking care of my family, but in reality I knew my ________ perfectionism wasn't doing us any good. I knew I needed to ________.

Two days later, my husband and I took our two older boys on a ________ to Matamoros, Mexico. We were going to participate in a(n) ________ known as the" Big Feed", where we'd be working in a field with strangers.

Upon arriving, we sat down and listened to the director, Ben, give his ________ about the event. “We won't stay inside although it's raining. And I have something that'll ________ that all of you stay flexible.” He ________ a small piece of cookie to each of us. “This is the Flexi-cookie. You eat it and you ________ will be flexible. Now let’s eat this cookie together.”

It tasted so ordinary, but it ________ magical ways. I worked alongside my family for two long days in a ________ field. We handed out supplies and ________ for several thousand people. My sons played games with the other children all day in the rain, and I never once ________ them up. I learned to be flexible.

Later, I muttered(嘀咕)"Fexi, Flexi" throughout the day, ________ myself that I needed to be less ________. I cannot say I've totally overcome my perfectionism, but I've made enough ________.