When I woke up this morning (other than being extremely jubilant that it was my last morning of watching the kids from you know where), these piles of laundry were my top priority. There were a few items that Alex needed washed prior to his departure on Sunday (you can see his suitcase sitting off to the side). Upon further reflection upon this topic I realized how stupid a priority that was. Did it need done? Yes. Did I need to get those clothes cleaned before Sunday? Yes. Did it need done immediately and at the cost of doing something engaging with my children? Absolutely not. Now, it's not that I ignored my children. They had a ton of friends to play with today and they spent the entire day outside running around and having a great time. However, it did cause me to think that sometimes (probably more often than I would care to admit) I let the mundane, essentially unimportant things take up more of my time than I should. During the course of a day I get so caught up in what "needs" done that I don't take time to "smell the roses" or enjoy the kids. I know how quickly they grow up. When I look at Alex and realize that he's 11, and leaving for a two week trip, alone, I'm stunned by how time flies. It's when I'm laying in bed at night or early in the morning that I lament the lost time that I could have spent doing something with the boys. But then when daylight comes I get sidetracked again. Okay, enough self recrimination for this evening. Tomorrow I'll try harder...
4 comments:
I could've written the last half of your post (I don't babysit children from you-know-where.) I always feel that I don't spend enough "fun" time with the boys, just doing what they want to do. I mean, I'm ALWAYS with them, but I wish I could learn to just sit back more and let them guide the day. Of course, their main interest right now is a stupid Star Wars computer game and, no matter how hard I might try - or not- I cannot get into that. Their month of playing it is almost up and then....I hope I can work harder at "smelling the roses" :)
Well put. I feel that way a lot too. I think it's hard to be everything. Mom, wife, taxi driver, educator, referee, maid, chef, and friend. It took me a LONG time to remember that I am LESLIE too. I make mistakes, I make bad choices, I am not always the mom I want, or need, to be. But, my sons love me. And I love them more than life. And more than everyday being special, they need to know that I love them everyday. And most days, that has to be enough.
I feel the same way, Kim. I make time to get STUFF done but lament not having time to do the roses thing. (When I walk the dog, I always tell her to go go go go go and stop smelling the roses! So I'm a bad doggie mom, too. But really, your post makes me think. I gotta get me a light saber.
fOkay, you guys made me feel better. We'll all bring our swords and light sabers to the next gathering.
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