The Gift of Time

The Gift of Time

Life is crazy busy and with the new year starting, the diary is filling up. It is easy to keep moving with the busyness. At late, I have found I am missing things, the small things. I’m too wrapped up in what’s next and what needs to be achieved. I forget to slow down and enjoy the simple things. Life with two small children is crazy but I love it.  I race around wanting to do the best for them but in the process I can sometimes miss out on some of the fun and age they are at. Life is precious and it all goes so fast. I don’t want to miss it. I want to embrace more of it. I’m trying to slow the pace. I am finding more enjoyment in life and more importantly my family. I make sure at least one day a week we have an ‘at home’ day.

On a day I didn’t have much on and deciding to stop and focus on Miss four and Mr six months I embraced their world of fun. I stopped focusing on what needed to be done and decided today is for the kids and me to have some fun. Forget the housework and my lists. As we walked and rolled (the pram) beside the river and fields we talked of what we saw. Birds, trees, colours and what we wanted to do or play for the remainder of the day. On the car trip home Miss four told me about all different things from her trip. As she struggles with her speech greatly, it was a wonderful delight to listen as she tried words and sounds. She had so much to say. She even started singing and this is something she hasn’t done before. She sang and then went hooray at the end. I wanted to say how wonderful it was but I waited until she finished. Delighting in every minute. Any small step is an achievement. By letting her chat, sing and Mr six months interject with his babbling it was a great trip.  Later that day we all sat on the floor and played. It was refreshing embracing my inner child hanging out on the floor building towers with Mr six months and coloring with Miss four. Just for now forgetting all responsibilities.

I love hanging out with my kids and I love to hear what they have to say. It is only by making time to play with them, listen to them I’m going to know who they really are.  I am making a deliberate action to slow down and notice what my kids like doing most and show them new things. The butterflies, the bees, the garden, observe what’s going on. The disabled man who walks by our house every morning on his way to work. The older lady walking her dogs every morning. The simple pleasure of eating produce from our garden. I want to give my kids the gift of my time and attention as much as I can.