This I Believe

Everybody has something they need to get done before they can relax, most of the time it is a lot of something’s. Working, going to school, caring for your children, all contributes to their fair share of chores that must be done.             

I believe you should enjoy life as it happens. There will always be something to do, someone to call, dinner to be made and the house to be cleaned. Life is impossible to catch up on. This idea is what keeps our days busy and our lives moving forward. But we shouldn’t let our ever growing work load get in the way of those irreplaceable family moments.

I came to my belief after I had my daughter. As a new mom (and a person in love with a routine) I was always struggling to put my life in neat manageable boxes. Everything had a time, place and a deadline. Coming from a less than cleanly environment growing up, cleaning was always number one on the priority list and took up most of my time at home. Brightly colored and noisy toys were my best friend for entertaining my daughter while I attempted to blitz clean my house, do my homework and just catch up on life. I had babysitters for work and school and rattles and crawl mats for home. By the time I was done with all the tasks for just one day, my daughter was asleep in bed, exhausted from a full day with someone else.

When I finally felt like I had successfully managed my life, I had a startling revelation, at six months old my daughters babysitter informed me she was officially scooting around. Where had I been for this? I thought I had more time to enjoy the infant days. I realized in trying to take care of my child I had effectively missed out on her early days. They really do grow so fast. As I watched her scoot around the living room floor I realized I will never get those tiny baby cuddles back again and the days that mommy is her entire world were over. It seemed like the very next day she was full on crawling. Then feeding herself and attempting to walk along the perimeter of the couch and there was no stopping her. I had become a stranger to my own daughter and it broke my heart.

Life refuses to wait for you to catch up. There will always be something that needs done, but at what cost? I realized to be the mom I wanted to be I had to do just that, be a mom. I had to get down and play with her and have squawking contests across the house. I had to read her Good Night Moon and eat the baby fruity poofs. I learned work can wait till work time and a few dishes never hurt anyone. My baby will eventually grow into a little girl, and then want nothing to do with me as a teenager, eventually become a woman with her own kids. My time with her is short but I intend to live in every moment with her and be her teacher along the way.