Stop and Smell the...uh... Roses
I've been so sentimental lately. I'm not sure exactly why. Cora seems to be blowing through milestones in the past month. We're almost halfway through this spring semester already. This is the last semester that all of my kids will be home all the time. I think I'm slowly realizing what I've been told all along: these days fly by! They feel so endless in the middle, but as I research preschools for Henry and look ahead to the future, I realize that we're soon going to close a chapter in his life and begin a new one. Until now, we've been the loudest voices in his life. When he begins to tell a story, I know where it's headed because I've been with him all day. I know the things that have influenced him, the words that have been said to him. I can't believe these days that seemed to stretch on forever are nearing their end!
And so I'm resolving to stop and smell the roses. Maybe that's the wrong phrase. With one child potty training and another in diapers, I don't care to stop and smell anything. But my point is, I want to soak up the little moments. Parenting is just so fleeting! I remember realizing, when Henry was about a year old, how quickly "routines" change. The whole idea of a routine is having something predictable, stable. But as I looked back over that first year, I realized that our routines were only stable for a month or two at a time. It's not long before the child who always naps at 9 am outgrows the need for a morning nap. And the toddler who wants three books read to him before naps soon prefers to read to himself. The things that I think I can count on being unchanging change so quickly!
Naptime is usually my productive time. I take advantage of the quiet to work on things for my etsy shop or other crafts. As the kids trickle out of bed one by one, it's so tempting to put them on hold so I can just finish what I'm working on. Yesterday, as Henry sidled up beside me for the third day in a row, just wanting to be close, I realized I have a treasure that won't last forever. At no other time in the day do my kids want to just sit and be close to me. In fact, having just one or two of them at my side at a time is a rarity. So I'm resolving to seize those moments! I'm going to make that precious time a priority and soak up every minute I can hold on to! *Sniff* All too soon, even those moments will be gone! I'm a sappy mess...
And so I'm resolving to stop and smell the roses. Maybe that's the wrong phrase. With one child potty training and another in diapers, I don't care to stop and smell anything. But my point is, I want to soak up the little moments. Parenting is just so fleeting! I remember realizing, when Henry was about a year old, how quickly "routines" change. The whole idea of a routine is having something predictable, stable. But as I looked back over that first year, I realized that our routines were only stable for a month or two at a time. It's not long before the child who always naps at 9 am outgrows the need for a morning nap. And the toddler who wants three books read to him before naps soon prefers to read to himself. The things that I think I can count on being unchanging change so quickly!
Naptime is usually my productive time. I take advantage of the quiet to work on things for my etsy shop or other crafts. As the kids trickle out of bed one by one, it's so tempting to put them on hold so I can just finish what I'm working on. Yesterday, as Henry sidled up beside me for the third day in a row, just wanting to be close, I realized I have a treasure that won't last forever. At no other time in the day do my kids want to just sit and be close to me. In fact, having just one or two of them at my side at a time is a rarity. So I'm resolving to seize those moments! I'm going to make that precious time a priority and soak up every minute I can hold on to! *Sniff* All too soon, even those moments will be gone! I'm a sappy mess...
