Time. It passes without permission. As a television News Director once told me in a class I took long ago (about being a reporter): Time is your most precious resource.
He was right. As a mother, I see it most clearly now. Certain memories are faded more than others, but yes, TIME is our most precious family resource. We want more of it. We want it to go by faster. We want it to slow down. We sometimes want it to stop. And then we wish it would speed up again so we can go back to not cleaning up food off the floor.
Lately I’m having major throwbacks. Maybe because I’m spring cleaning my computer and revisiting old pictures I haven’t seen in years?
Time. It passes. Which is why we must stay present. Stay mindful. Keep our brains in the moment. Always. No matter what kind of crappy day we’re having.
I recently found this video from 2013 and cried and died a little inside about how time has whizzed by without my permission. A sweet moment from when my LadyP (now 5) was 2 going on 3 years old:
And ain’t the lyrics of Ariel’s song so true — about wanting something else, wanting something more, wanting to go somewhere else.
All moms feel it at one time or another. I myself would like to be in Hawaii right about now… or at a spa… or across town at a restaurant by myself for a bit. To be a part of another world sometimes.
But I can’t — I need to pick up my kids in another hour.
I remember recording that video that day… in the same spot on my couch I’m writing this post now. It seemed like yesterday. I also remember making a mental note that day to ‘enjoy the moment’ as I hit that record button on my phone. At the time, my younger daughter (who was about 1 and a half years old at the time) was taking a nap. I was pooped. I undoubtedly looked terrible with dirty hair and an unwashed face. I probably smelled disgusting. It was another world back then, with two daughters under the age of 3.
The tea parties to kill time, the songs to pass the day, the games to fill the afternoons, the outside picnics to change our scenery. I truly did enjoy those days, but like most moms I know, I simultaneously had a voice in the back of my head saying, “Hang in there, this is just a phase and you won’t go crazy…”
What I wouldn’t give to go back to one of those days way back when I was in baby-and-toddler land and wishing that time would just pass, just for one day. (For ONE day, folks, let’s not go completely crazy here.) Nostalgia is a sneaky trickster. Name me one mother who says she wouldn’t want to go back to the baby days just for one day and I’ll tell you she is lying. Liar!
We all look back on all our random ‘good old days’ with the wish to go back and play for a day, but we sometimes forget: One day, THESE DAYS will be the good old days. And yes, we might soon want to return to THIS DAY in the future, no matter how challenging or tiresome or annoying this day might actually be.
And that’s one of the major keys to maintaining a happy motherhood, I think. Knowing the truth about passing the time each day and the tricks that passing time can play. Time is precious. Moments are precious.
Here’s to looking back to prepare for the future by appreciating THIS DAY. (You follow?)
