Slow Down

This.  This song by Nichole Nordeman, along with it's video, has all.the.feels.  I couldn't stop crying while I was watching it.  It's so difficult when you are in the thick of it, to s l o w down and really absorb the life teeming around you, isn't it? But what a beautiful, albeit melancholy, reminder for all of us parents.

When you first have a child, all of your family, friends, coworkers...they all tell you not to wish it away.  To savor every moment. To love your children's smallness.  Because we all know that children grow up too fast, and before you know it, they're grown and out the door, leaving you in your nest with only the countless photographs, videos, memorabilia to comfort you with such an incredible emptiness.

As the children screech and scream through your life, wanting and needing so much from you, you may often find yourself wanting and needing a break.  From them.  But not really from them...(well, okay, maybe sometimes), but mostly from the ChAoS of raising little ones.  You need your "me time" to process the cacophony, and regroup to better handle their urgent requests of "Mooooooommm!!  I NEED a drink NOW!!", the bickering, the running through the house while they shoot each other with Nerf guns, which inevitably turns into more bickering. You need to withdraw from the noise...just.to.hear.yourself.think.  Or go to the bathroom...ALONE...for crying out loud!

But you don't need a break from loving them.  And that's what speaks to me in this sweet, sweet song.  Because even though it's a crazy time of your life, and you may need to have some space from it all every now and then, you still love and cherish those little kiddles in your life. You wish to be able to cuddle them up and shower them with kisses forever.  But these moments are fleeting, and if you don't stop to smell the poopy diapers (eeewwwww, gross!), the dandelion heads that have been popped off and lovingly handed to you, the squiggly, wiggly worms with them, you could miss out on so much. So perhaps we should put down our brooms, leave the dirty dishes in the sink, pile the laundry on the couch (hopefully it's at least clean), turn off our social media notifications, and stash our iPhones away.

We need to be present and mindful, absorb every possible second, every possible snuggle, every possible smell we have with them...even when we are tired and our feet are aching from mopping the floors twice because it was raining all day, and well, boys...and mud. Because there are no do-overs when it comes to children growing up. Today, they are the youngest they will ever be again. And tomorrow is never promised. So hold on tight through this bumpy ride and give them all the conscious energy you can. Because today...Today is tomorrow's memory.

Chaotically yours,

MM

P.P.S. Don't forget to click on the links to follow my blog so you don't miss a post!
You can also follow me on Google+, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.  Look for the links! :)