One thing that I’ve heard time and time again from just about everyone I’ve ever met that has children of their own is, “enjoy them now, it goes by so fast!”. While, yes, this is absolutely true, sometimes it’s easy to overlook that when you have a large family.
I have been a mother for almost 15 years now, and I have loved every moment of it! I may not overly enjoy every moment while I’m in the moment, but I’ve also looked back at the end of a time period and had that “aha” moment. Every stage that you walk through with your children is a stage that you had to go through to help shape them into the humans that they’re meant to be but also helped to shape you into the parent that you are meant to be.
Not every moment is beautiful, which if you’ve dealt with the terrible twos or horrendous threes, you probably know what I’m talking about… I’ve had moments where I could have, and probably did, cry… But did I do them justice? I often feel concerned that I’ve rushed through time with each of my children at one point or another.
Did I react poorly? Did I give them enough love today? Did I listen to their stories with my whole heart? Did they feel like I saw them today and that they were filled with love?
Here’s the tricky part in that.
Your children are never as young as they are today, ever again.
We will never get their little moments back, no matter how “little” those moments are.
How to Capture the Moments
I have felt the feelings, and I would love to share with you what I’ve been doing to try to ensure that I’m capturing the moments with my children the best I can.
I’m aware that having a large family can also make this tricky!
After all, we are only one person with the same 24 hours in our day as everyone else. Depending on what your life looks like, whether you work outside the home, are a stay-at-home parent, homeschool, have kids in public school, or any different make up of home life, your availability will look so different!
Please remember, we are all doing the best we can, and everyone’s ideas will be different!
Here are some small things that you can do to capture those moments in everyday life:
- Cooking dinner together
- When our littles want to be involved in cooking dinner, I always do my best to happily say yes! Sometimes, nothing would be easier than to get into the kitchen and just get a meal on the table as fast as I can. Having little helpers in the kitchen sometimes means that your process slows down, but I find that it always brings smiles and memories all around!
- Listen to their highs and lows of each day
- It’s easy to get hooked on social media, as I’m writing a blog post, but I encourage you to check in with your children each day and see what their best moment of their day was. This can lead you to find out what your child loves, especially when they’re going through some trying times and you’re really trying to connect! On the flip side, it also can give you the opportunity to know their low moment of the day and how that influenced them. It could be the perfect way to help build your child up if they’re having a rough time!
- Have one-on-one time during nightly tuck in
- Sometimes, by the time it’s time for bed, I’m already beat! The days can be long, but I assure you the years truly are short! I like to utilize putting the kids to bed to read them a story, sing a song, and to pray with them before they go to bed. I hope that during these evening times, they know just how much I enjoy ending their day with them.
I hope that these little moments are a help, and an easy way to sneak in some extra time with your children each day!
-Karen
Growing With The Wilders 