It seems like yesterday I was sitting at a graduation and now it’s the beginning of a new school year. I remember my oldest’s first day of Kindergarten – I was a mixture of excited and emotional as I couldn’t believe my little boy was going to big boy school after spending 2 years at preschool. It made me realize how quickly the last 5 years had flown by.
The next thing I know it’ll be time for his high school graduation. This part makes me silently freak out just a bit. I flash back to when I was in college taking care of a kiddo – I remember playing basketball with him, carting him to and from school and play dates. Now he’s sending me texts about his new college roommate and his schedule for his freshman year of college. I am excited for him and emotional because I can’t believe how fast time has flown, as I remember holding him as a baby. I start thinking about my own kiddos, that in the blink of an eye, I will be sitting here in an empty house on the first day of school because they are off to college. I will be hoping that I did my best to ensure they’ll be able to fly and not flounder.
As busy moms, we get so caught up in the rushed mornings, sporting events, family activities and household chores. I find myself exhausted from picking up the SAME TOY five times in an hour, the sink seems to keep growing with dishes even though I swear I just loaded the dishwasher, and I’m pretty sure I’m washing that load of laundry for the third time in two days. I am constantly having to remind myself that my boys really don’t care about the mess in the living room or the dirty bowls from breakfast – they care about the morning snuggles while watching cartoons, playing with chalk on the back porch or going for a spontaneous trip to get ice cream.
I sit here thinking about how we only get our children for such a short amount of time, and it goes by so fast, that each morning I need to carve out that time to just relax with my children, even if it means getting up a little earlier to get lunches made and dishes done before they wake up. There are always going to be days we are too exhausted to play house or read one more bedtime story – but in a short period of time – there won’t be anyone asking you for those things. Instead they’ll be asking you to borrow the car to go out with friends or asking you for advice on how to decorate their own home. Cherish the time you have with your children, you won’t regret not getting the daily household chores done, but you will regret not getting in those extra hugs and snuggles.
So, so true, Karly!
And I can’t tell you how often I’ve had to rewash this last load of laundry!
Such a good read for a morning when the baby got me up at 5:20. I’ll make a point to snuggle him extra good today and take him to the park for lunch.