Last week I saw a clip of an Oprah episode where she was interviewing a woman who had killed her daughter because she accidentally left her daughter in the car in the hot heat when she went into a store. She was a normal mom, just like most moms I know. She completely forgot that her daughter was in the back seat, and when she came back out from the store, her daughter had died.
The woman said that she wanted to share her story with others because she wanted to tell parents to S-L-O-W down and treasure every moment. She said she was so busy going here and there and here and there (doing mostly things for her children and running them around, etc.) that her busyness eventually ended up killing her daughter.
This left me thinking about the choices I make on a daily basis.
Am I too busy cleaning up the playroom that I don't let my kids play and enjoy their toys?
Am I too busy vacuuming that I don't have time to do a puzzle with my begging 3-year-old?
Am I too busy thinking about the "me time" that awaits me after the kids are down for naps that I don't have time to read a 2nd book to my kids during naptime?
Am I too busy worrying about Callan getting his pants dirty that I don't let him stomp in the water puddles after the thunderstorm?
The past two weeks I've been "letting go" of some things in order to spend more time with my kids. So yesterday while we were walking around the neighborhood and Callan said to me, "Mommy, I'm going to jump in this puddle!" I bit my lip and said, "Ok, we'll just change your pants when we get home." And when we went to go get into the car to go to the store, and Callan wanted to wear an over-sized cowboy hat ('cause he was pretending to be Woody from Toy Story), I told him that was fine. I'm enjoying having a boy who has no fear of man right now and who can make random adults laugh out in public as they exclaim, "I love your hat, Buddy! That's really cool!"
It makes me smile. He makes me smile. She makes me smile. And slowing down our busy lives to smile is a good thing.
2 comments:
All of your "Am I too busy comments" sound just like me! Alex has been begging to jump in puddles but I keep thinking that because she doesn't have rain boots she can't. She even suggested putting on her snow boots. And I am glad I started doing more activities with Alex while Camden naps. The poor girl probably has been begging for my attention. The simple comments of "I love doing crafts with you mommy" are totally worth it!
I saw that episode of Oprah a year or two ago, and it has always stayed with me. Sometimes things become so "routine" that we don't take time out to live our life instead of just going through the motions. It really makes you think about your daily decisions.
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