Life Unscripted

God, please help us not to take our children for granted.  Help us to truly cherish each day and not get so caught up in the things that we feel like we “have to” do and just take the time to love our sweet gifts God has given us. 

I don’t know about you, but I struggle SO bad with this.  Instead of spending time with my kids, I get so excited when a show they both want to watch comes on TV and I can clean up for 30 minutes.  I’m not saying I don’t ever spend time with my kids, because I do.  And I enjoy it.  But there are so many times that I let my desire for a clean and orderly house and the deep emotional attachment to social media over rule my inner Mommy.  (Hey, I’m a stay at home mom.  It’s not as easy as you think.  Life changes drastically when you have kids.)  Know what I mean? 

Smart phones and iPads and all this technology we have at our fingertips can be so crippling to us as parents if we’re not careful.  We can either use them to bond with our children or they become wedges that grow larger by the day.  I pin all these cute things on Pinterest that I want to do with my kids but I haven’t actually done many of them. 

Feeding, changing diapers, picking up everyone else’s messes, helping in the bathroom, changing out movies, cleaning up messes (oh wait, did I already say that?), trying to get a shower while their favorite show is on, snacks, trying to get yourself ready while little people keep banging on the door, more snacks, the major crisis’s that only happen during those few minutes when you have to go to the bathroom.. I am mentally and physically exhausted at the end of almost every day just trying to keep up with the kids, but some days I wonder, “Have I really spent time with them today?  Have I really invested myself in them today?”  I mean, I’ve taken care of their needs, but have I been present in their lives and just loved on them? 

Don’t let something major happen before you stop and realize the blessings that you’re surrounded by every day.  We won’t have these little people forever.  They’re going to grow up into teenagers who will hopefully still think we have a little ounce of coolness left and want to hang out with us.  Then they’ll go off to college and start lives of their own and we’ll only be involved on major holidays and special occasions. 

I’m declaring tomorrow a “Technology Free Day.”  It’s NOT going to be easy, I can assure you.  I normally have my iPhone within arms reach at least 12 hours a day just in case another person texts or calls me and helps me come back to reality to realize that I’m  really not on a deserted island with little wild haired people shouting demands at me all day.  Anybody with me here?  Tomorrow I will smell the roses.  I’ll get dirty doing fun projects with the kids.  I’ll enjoy the mess and chaos.  Well maybe not enjoy the mess.  Or at least I’ll try.  I don’t know.. Can’t hurt to try, right?  Let’s do this, mamas!  Enjoy your babies!  We only have one shot at this!  ❤