A couple weeks ago we spent the entire day and cleaned up our yard… I mean, you should have seen some of the weeds. Almost the size of my twins! It was as glamorous as it sounds and I snapped a few pictures of the kids as they worked. I honestly love these pictures so much!
I’m reminded of a quote I often see on Pinterest that says, “Enjoy the little things in life for one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things”. As I’m coming out of the baby stage with the twins and my big kids are growing up, going to school, learning to read and just being so much more independent, it’s starting to hit me more and more that this time I have with my kids is slipping through my fingers. I’m trying to take little snapshots of sweet moments in my head and hoping to remember the sound of my boys’ little squeaky voices because I know that time will eventually rob me of them.
Your goals change as a mom. At least they have for me. For a long time we were in sheer survival mode. If we kept everyone alive at the end of the day, we were winning!! I had to take one day at a time back then and I remember getting frustrated a lot at just how slow we were at everything! But now, my kids are becoming my little helpers and my partners in crime! The other day Boston asked me if I knew how to floss dance. He said that it was a cool dance at his school that he wasn’t very good at and wanted to learn. So we turned on YouTube and learned how to floss dance! It was hilarious. I was honestly rolling on the floor laughing at us dancing in the kitchen. And I realized, it has nothing to do with the lessons I teach my kids and everything do with the way I make them feel. The way I live my life and what I value most is what they’re learning. I don’t remember much of what my mom taught me. I can’t remember her voice very well or much of what she said, but I do remember that she loved all of me. That she would choose me over any of the things on her to-do list and I always always felt like a priority to her. I don’t remember the taste of the cookies we’d make, but I do remember making them. I remember pictures in my head of us laughing, or walking in on her kneeling next to her bed praying, or watching my dad butter the home made popcorn. I remember her waiting up for me in her robe on our couch when I’d come home late from being out with friends. I don’t really remember the big trips we took, it’s all the small moments that happened day in and day out that I remember.
My goal right now is to start enjoying the little things just a little bit more! Like weeding. It wasn’t something my kids really wanted to do but we had so much fun hanging out together. We went to Home Depot and got everyone gloves, a couple little digging tools, and they were SO EXCITED TO WEED!!! It became a great teaching moment too and we talked about plants and bugs, the seasons and God! My kids probably won’t remember the weeding or much of what we talked about. But they’ll remember that we spent the day together laughing and working. That we ate lunch on the tramp, that Mommy and Savy scream when they see spiders, and that family time can be really fun – even when you’re weeding.
Time is non-refundable. Use it with intention. These are the words I’m living by this year and my goal is to make sure my kids see me living intentionally. I want them to actually see me living my priorities, not just talking about them. I want them to see me kneeling next to my bed in prayer, so that they can see that God is important to me. I want them to see me in the kitchen happily cooking their meals so they know I’m willing to sacrifice for them. I want them to remember us screaming to songs in the van on their way to school, or us cheering for them at their games and performances. Because it really is so many of those little things added up over a lifetime, that change who you are.
Are you in the baby stage right now or are your kids old and grown? Is there any advise you could give or something you could share with the rest of us?! If there’s one thing I’ve learned by now, it’s that you guys always have the best things to share!
Love this…And your joy for life!