I just finished reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and I will never forget her words, “the days are long but the years are short.”
I think most moms of young kids can relate to this sentiment, although we tend to forget it when our lives are swirling around us like a windstorm.
From the moment you open your eyes in the morning, you’re running. Work. School. Extra-curricular activities. What’s for dinner? Who’s crying now? Where’s the permission slip for the school trip? Is that shirt clean? The guy on the phone wants to sell me what?
But in the midst of that madness the other day, I put on a video my in-laws gave me. The opening scene showed my three kids playing in the garden and I thought to myself, “That video must be years old. My children look like babies.”
The video was taken 18 months ago. Since then my daughter started to talk. My oldest started to read. And my middle son started to say things about life that really make me laugh.
What? When did my babies become children? Where did the time go?
It ticked by like it always does.
My mom told me once that the day will come when I miss the grubby fingerprints on the windows. The stampede of feet on the stairs. The shrill screams of, “Are we there yet?” (Well, maybe I won’t miss those screams.)
It’s hard to think that way when the kids are young and life is wild. But if we can stop at least once a day and breathe it in, it will remind us to cherish what we have.
Because the days are long but the years are short.
Ain't that the truth! During my spring cleaning this past weekend I came across a card I had written to my husband, just weeks before our son was born. The sentiments expressed were a heatlhy mix of both joy and fear. Today, he is a confident, thoughtful, opinionated, sensitive risk taker. When I look into his eyes, I can't help but feel that same sense of joy and fear of what's to come.
ReplyDeleteThis blog really hit home today. It is only 11 a.m. and it is already shaping up to be one of those really long days.
ReplyDeleteI started my morning by "freaking out" because my youngest seems to have lost the last of the four pairs of mitts that she started the season with. I undoubtedly blew things way out of proportion and headed to work feeling guilty.
But, this morning's incident is just a mere blip on the radar. This post has reminded me that there's no time to sweat the small stuff, when precious time with our children is rushing by so quickly.
When I go home this evening I will see past the winter bins hastily dumped on floor and I will hold my child's "chilly" little hands. In the wake of what was shaping up to be a really long day, I will take time to cherish those short years.
Thanks for the perspective!