I had many comments condemning me for judging other Mothers. Honestly, I am one of the last people to judge anyone. I am FAR from a "perfect" mother. And I FULLY recognize this. For example: My kids have on occasion been known to watch TV and play video games for longer than they should. My house is not always clean ~ right now, dishes sit in the sink, papers are strewn about and pillows and blankets from last nights fort building still lay on the floor. Don't even go into the guest room, that's where I've been folding laundry and it is currently impossible to see the bed. Dinners I create are not always amazing and I am known to loose my patience when the kids complain about the food I've set before them (there are SO many children who don't have a meal to eat or a table to set it on). And the list goes on and on and on. Here's the thing, I know and understand we all walk our own paths, our lives are all busy and complicated for many different reasons, and each one of us handles every circumstance differently. We all respond to stress and anxiety in our own ways.
Am I telling you you can't or shouldn't go out with your friends? Absolutely NOT! Go out, we NEED our friends! We NEED dates with our husbands. We NEED to give ourselves a break from our kiddos to keep our emotional tanks full!
Am I insinuating you don't love your kids because you found the post funny or feel the same way as the author of it? No Way!
My point in writing this post was to point out that our children grow up so very fast. And every single moment counts, so savor them! Think about this: If you have your child from birth until the age of 18 (I know this is not always the case) you have about 6,575 days with your child. That might sound like a lot, but take out about 6 hours each day your child is in school starting roughly at age 5 (not including preschool). That's 13 years at 6 hours/day for about 170 school days. Now your down to having your children for only 6,021 days. That's down 553 days.
So, 6021 days to enjoy your child. And that doesn't include sleeping time, the amount of time work (paid or volunteer work) pulls us away from them, extracurricular classes and/or sports consume them, friends occupy them and as they get older, jobs engage them.
Time is short. It is fleeing. And for me, I choose to enjoy every snuggle, middle of the night waking, and homemade gift and card, with or without macaroni. Is it easy to always enjoy these things? No, sometimes it is a completely conscious choice I have to make. And this choice is hard, when I am tired and want a full nights rest without having to change sheets on another wet bed or when I want to sleep in and snuggle with my hubby. And yes, I would like to shower in peace without someone pounding on the door and eat my lunch in its entirety before having to wipe a butt. But this isn't the case. At least not for me, not right now. And I wouldn't have it ANY OTHER WAY!
Let me leave you with this true story:
This story begins with me as a carefree high school-er. The time of your life, when you are invincible, right? :) The day began like every other. Hanging out with friends, chatting at our lockers, but wondering why we hadn't seen our good friend "Mike" (I have changed his name). He seldom missed a day of school. The day went on normally until early afternoon, when the entire school was called to the auditorium for an unplanned announcement. The solemn faces we saw as we entered the auditorium told us this was not going to be a good announcement. They told us of a tragedy involving our friend Mike's 9 year old sister. I don't remember the principal giving us much for details, but the details were all over the news that evening. My friends little 9 year old sister was kidnapped while delivering news papers with her family (something they did every morning and they split up a bit to make the route go faster). She was raped, murdered and found later that day abandoned in a gravel pit. My friend and I lost contact and he was never the same after that, how could you be. But I can guarantee that their mother would have given ANYTHING for more snuggles, more kisses, more homemade gifts from her as well as to be awoken in the middle of the night because her beautiful daughter had a bad dream. Her daughter who would now never need her again. Her daughter she would never see grow into a beautiful woman. Her daughter who would never be married or have children.
I know of other families who have lost their children. Tragedies happen every single day. Accidents can not be prevented and any of these things could happen to my family at any moment. We are not exempt. And I will NOT live with anxiety or fear because these things could happen, but I do refuse to live with regret. So I will make conscious decisions every single day to savor all 6021 days! Actually I only have 2147 more until my 12 year old turns 18 and perhaps heads off to college............ :(
Always remember,
The days may be long,
but the years are short!
1 comment:
Ok now I'm sad. Who knew we actually had so few days? More importantly, who knew you would break out the math to figure this out?!? :)
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