Time

I was talking to Karrie today about our kids and the time we spend with them.  I am so lucky to be able to stay at home with my children.  B works very hard so I can do this.  My mom stayed at home with my brothers and me so when I was growing up I remember wanting to be this or that but when it came right down to it, I can only really remember wanting to be a mom. 

It seems like only yesterday, B and I were surprised to find out we were expecting J.  Now he is three and a half years old and has a little sister.  It's amazing how fast the time goes.  J is doing so much and is at an age where I can teach him to do anything.  I love playing games with him and watching him learn as he writes his name or draws a picture or reads a book.  He loves the attention and thrives on praise and adoration from B and me.  But some days I feel like I don't give him enough of me. 

Some days I feel like all I do is wash clothes, wash dishes, cook, and clean.  Some nights I get in the bed and I wonder, "What did I do with J today?"  K is much more demanding of my time and while I feed, rock, change her I can tell J "in a minute" or "just go play, please" and he does.  Some days he must give up waiting for me. 

I have to remember that it doesn't matter if all the clothes are washed or if we have a gourmet meal for dinner.  Do I want my kids to think back on their childhood and remember folding clothes, making beds, and mopping floors or do I want them to remember a mom that played games and did crafts and spent time with them?  Even if it means involving them in the housework and making my daily tasks something we can do together rather than sending them away to play alone. 

One day I'm going to wake up and it will be quiet, clean, and lonely.  I am going to have the clean house I wish for now but then I will be wishing for my children to be little again.  To play one more game, to read one more book, to sing one more song.  So...

...tomorrow when J says, "Will you play with me?", I will try to remember that one day he will quit asking.  So forget the laundry and the unmade beds, I will play with my son.  When K cries, I will kiss away her tears and snuggle up with both of my little ones and read a book.  Because I will never get this time back.


"We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today."  ~Stacia Tauscher


"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about."  ~Angela Schwindt