It seems as the month of May comes, so do graduations, weddings, the end of the school year, the planning of family vacations, travel softball/baseball, you name it, it can happen in May…at least that is how it seems in our household.
I need time to slow down. Just a little.
Today I had a conversation about how my daughter will be promoted from eighth grade to HIGH SCHOOL. How is that possible? I’m not crying. You’re crying.
I remember so many “firsts” with her…
The day she was born (on my birthday).
Her first steps.
First word.
Favorite foods/least favorite foods.
The moment she learned to talk in complete sentences like a tiny adult.
Small crying spells because she was frustrated.
Kindergarten (and all the other grades).
I remember these little moments. They turned into some big moments. I’ve watched my daughter grow into a beautiful, strong-willed, passionate, Harry Potter crazed, book loving, softball playing, young lady.
Can you just take it easy on me, time? For real.
My son will be a fourth grader and in a new school come fall. I remember when he didn’t speak. Not one word. He would point or grunt at something. I remember we went through testing, and eventually we had a speech therapist come to our home (thank the good lord for the WCECC–Williamson County Early Childhood Cooperative–P.S. Illinois you can pass a budget any.time.).
My son is growing up–he’s not my baby boy anymore…gone is the little boy who needed his Mama to sing him a song to sleep at night. Now, there’s a smart, caring, tender-hearted, runner nine year old in our house. I see him grow more independent every day.
Life really does happen right before your eyes. If you aren’t careful, you’ll blink and miss it all (and I know I am preaching to the choir here).
We (society in general) get so caught up in being busy–being on the go, on the move, on the run…working, planning events, planning out our lives and the future that we sometimes forget to take the little moments around us in…I am going to soak up all of these May/end of the school year activities…because one day they’ll be gone, and my kids will be adults out in the real world.
I stress out about things I can’t control and I stress out about things that shouldn’t bother me. Sometimes I have days where I really wonder “what am I suppose to do with my life?” It is a loaded question for sure, but I know who I am, I know that I’m right where I am meant to be in this life. Let’s not bog down our kids with making them decide so early what they need to be, or who they need to be. (That’s stress, y’all).
I love taking small road trips with my family. We have a list of things we want to do and see.
Make a list of things you want to do. What is interesting? What is one place you could visit? My list is more like a mountain, but I’m not going to back away from it–I’m going to keep walking toward it, taking baby steps at times, or running full force.
Know that is okay to not keep plans. Boy, is this a tough one. I am a planner. I even have two planners, a Google calendar, a calendar on my phone, and sometimes I feel like I still “miss” things or don’t get all the things accomplished. THAT IS OKAY. Yes, I’m “shouting” that.
Try not to be discouraged if your plans or the job/avenue your life is going has not gone the way you’ve planned. You never know what roads will lead you to the right path. I would have never imagined myself in graduate school 6, 7 years ago. Heck, some days I can’t even fathom that I am a blogger. Be flexible. Adapt. You never know what curve ball life may throw you.
I guess my point in all of this is that time can get away from us…no matter how you look at it…there aren’t enough hours in the day, the weekends aren’t long enough, the work day is too long…that reminds us that time sometimes is not on our side. We have to make do with the little moments. Because we all know we have moments when adulting is real hard.
But for now, I’d like time to slow down just a little…because there are days that adulting is not what it is cracked up to be. 🙂