Moments

-


You will never have this day with your children again - 
tomorrow they'll be a little bit older than they are today.  
TODAY is a gift, breathe & notice, smell & hold them, 
study their faces & little feet & pay attention.  Enjoy
today mama - it will be over before you know it.  
Relish the charms of the present.  

--Jen Hatmaker

--------------------------------------------------

Time. It's a funny thing really. When you are working, there seems to be too much of it. When you are having fun, there's never enough.  Either way, it is something we all have a limited amount of and how we spend that time is what counts.  This very sentiment has been on my mind for some time now.  Yes, I know, time that has lapsed FAR too long in actually sitting down and writing in this blog (I hope you've missed me as much as I missed you).  Either way, I prefer to pick up here right where we left off.  Like we are old friends having coffee after years of not seeing each other. OK?

Daughters of the year are growing up so quickly. If I allow myself to sit in the moment, which is a rarity for me, I get emotional watching it all. Realizing someday they will be out of the house, not wanting to sit with me or snuggle or even think my jokes are funny.  I know that day is coming all too soon for daughter of the year #1 as she looked up and down my outfit two days ago with a look of "you're really going to wear that?"  Yep, we have arrived full-fledged at pre-teen.  Please tell me I will survive this?  

I yelled a lot this week.  Not because of looks, rolled eyes, or snarky glares. The kind of yelling that has no meaning to it - it's simply just there.  The guilt of those moments is consuming me and I feel like a pretty crappy mom as a result.  Let's just say I took a serious step backward on my endless pursuit.  Somehow that sounds better. My kids didn't deserve the yelling.  They weren't angels, but they certainly didn't do anything that was significantly wrong. Heaven knows I have spent plenty of days contemplating this mood.  In other words, WAY too much time.  

People can just be plain mean. I find that most often the best of people are the ones that get beat down due to others' bad days, fights with spouses, struggles to get children dressed and out of the house on time on a busy workday, and just in general being in a bad mood. My motto for one day last week quickly became "No good deed goes unpunished."  I'm pretty sure by the end of the week, that was my daughters' motto too. Yet I struggle to understand why it is, as human beings, we treat each other this way.

This week, parents woke up to face a day without a child in their lives. Other parents woke up wondering why their child had resorted to such violence. Another individual woke up and decided they simply couldn't face their troubles and decided to take their own life. Another police officer's family woke to learn they would face the future without their spouse and parent. Someone else held a parent's hand as they left this world. If you knew you were going to be faced with this type of reality, how would you spend your final day with someone you love?  

What I can say is mine will not be yelling. I'm not sure I will ever know why a world tragedy is what it takes to snap me out of my funk, but I think it's somewhat of a "higher power" reminder that I am forgetting to appreciate what I have. If you didn't know, what I have is pretty darn fantastic!  I really should appreciate it more. So, as I vow today to do less yelling, I also think this is a perfect kick-off to getting back in the saddle again with this blog and that is to challenge you to these things. I would love to hear what you do with them! 

* Why is being kind such a hard thing to do on a daily basis? How can you spread kindness?  Every morning, before you head to whatever your daily routine is, please think about one good thing you have going on in your life. Cherish it. Remember it. Make it some sort of a personal mantra for the day. 

* Recognize your snark, own it, then change it. Everyone has something going on in their lives and maybe that something has you down in the dumps. Do as a good friend often tells me, FLUSH IT!  LET IT GO!  Remember that good thing you have going on. Write it down, post a picture, whatever you need to do. Remind yourself of it often.

* Love the person you wake up to each day. They see our very worst and yet come back for more. They are teaching us unconditional love. Give it back to them and teach that quality to someone else.

* Say "I'm sorry." It's not as hard as you might think.

* Last, find one way to do a nice thing for another person. My girls and I are baking brownies and delivering them to others. It's a win-win!  We spend time together, which they really needed of me, and we do something nice for someone else.  You never know what the person on the receiving end of your act is facing that day. Make a difference. 

Now, let the brownie baking commence! 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Letters

-
Image
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.  ~ Kahlil Gibran ------------------------------------------ Well, here it comes folks. The blog that will either keep you reading or destroy whatever relationship we've been having.  Either way, what I write here is mine.  I made absolutely no claim at perfection, although you really should have known that already by the title of this blog.  While this was difficult to write and took quite a bit of reflection, again, it is truly my own.  After days of pondering and writing, daughter of the year #1 gave me a big sign tonight that I was finally ready to post this.  Dad of the year suffered a loss in his family recently and, in my mind, the worst kind.  The one that creeps up on you and surprises you with grief you didn't think you would have.  Or should I say, grief you didn't think you would need to work th...
Read more

The Devil's Instrument

-
Image
Music is what feelings sound like.  ~ Author Unknown ---------------------------- I knew this day would come.  In fact, I hoped it would.  But never, ever, did I think it would try my patience like it has. Growing up, music was like air to me.  I needed it daily and as my relationship with it grew, it became something very important to me. I nearly made it a career until I grew unsure how I would actually accomplish that.  My mom will tell you all about the scholarship I turned down as a result, just ask her. In the end, it was a love but, for me, it was never a career.   Daughter of the year #1 has been taking piano lessons for 3 years.  There were times it tested me but that mainly came from frustrated bangs on the keys and hearing Jolly Old Saint Nicholas clear into the month of March.  Who knew my ultimate test of patience would come with a 12 inch piece of plastic with holes.   Ah, the blessed rec...
Read more

Notebooks

-
Image
Drench yourself in words unspoken. Live your life with arms wide open.   Today is, where your book begins.   The rest is still unwritten.   -Natasha Bedingfield I've sat down to write so many times I've lost track.  I get started then stop.  Something was always missing. Wittiness. A lesson. Humor. An ending that made sense.  Something!  I would always leave that writing for another day.  Another day never came.  Time after time, I'd go back to it, then scrap it and start over.   Starting over.  What a funny notion.  An empty piece of paper, a blank slate, always clean and new.  Always. I mean, who would argue the best part of school starting was new notebooks.  No writing or markings, just waiting for fresh knowledge.  Ok, so I still love a new notebook.   Losing someone you care for always makes you reflect on things, on your own notebooks of time; your blank pie...
Read more