This Time is Ours! What Will You Make of It Before Life Grows Up Around Us?

Since this is still partly a Motherhood Blog, I thought today would be a good time to share some of my recent motherhood reflections.  It is so easy for me to get wrapped up with daily life and lose myself in things that are not really that important.  I get buried in my to-do list, 
errands to run
 lunches to make
fights to break up
workouts I want to fit in
self-care (yes, moms, we are allowed some self-care time!)
responding to e-mail
writing


This list goes on. And on.  And on.  And really, it will never end. NEVER!  The house will never be perfect, the dishes won't all be done, I'll never have responded to all your e-mails and comments, my stack of books won't disappear and read themselves.


  But what will happen is:


My KIDS Will Grow up!  
They won't be children forever,
    Their child-like wonder and mischievous grins will fade.  
They won't always have dirty little fingers and toes that leave a trail throughout the house.
My almost two year old won't always find such simple joy in just standing on the toilet to reach the sink. Experiencing such fascination with just turning the water on and dumping it from one cup to the next.  And on the floor.
I won't always have this mess to clean up.  Wet towels in clumps on the floor, sopping up the dripping mess of fun for one curious boy....who is learning. 


The tug at my leg with the request to read 
     "one more story mommy!" 
will eventually fade away.  


The magic of the jewel fairy won't always be alive and they will have figured out that the jewels that once held so much power and opened a door into their deepest imagination...
    were really just a dollar bag of decorative rocks from the local craft store.  

They won't always believe that fairies really live in the home they built just for them.

Watching movies in a cardboard fairy house in the living room will someday 
be
"Not Cool" 
and they will be asking for money and a ride to the movie theater with their BFFs.  

The little green shoes.

Ah, the little green shoes,
will be put away in a box and a story of "remember when..."

I won't always have muddy hands to wipe down after a good dig in the back yard, pet "roly poly" bugs living in my kitchen with a slice of potato to eat. 

There won't always be glitter around the house and little feet to walk through it.

The house won't always be buzzing with playful screams and kids flying down the hallway trying to capture each other.  
Even the tantrums, the fights, the "that's not fairs" and "whys"
    that are learning opportunities 
For all of us...
They will be no more.   


I may not have my life in complete order.  I may feel crazy most days and think I'm losing my mind.  It might be days on end before I shave my legs or put make up or go out of the house without a hat.  My bathroom counter might always be covered in little girl hair accessories, make up, lotion, cleaning supplies and toothpaste and I may never have the trail of hair ties fully picked up from the floors. I may never master the art of having dinner planned, prepared and ready for my family so I don't call my husband and have him order Thai for the 3rd time in one month. I will always have something else that I could do. 


But what I do have...
   only if I'm lucky 
And remember to notice it while it is still here,
    Is an opportunity to truly embrace this time with my children.  
These fleeting moments.
Precious.
Only once and no "re-dos"!  
This time is mine to make it as magical and memorable as I possibly can!  
This
This time
   and what I choose to do with it,
Is what is Important!  Not all the other stuff that will still be there when THEY aren't.  





What is something in your life that you want to embrace a little more fully today and the days to come?  Something that won't always be there.  


Amanda