If you could turn back time

I love how sometimes, reading a small, seemingly insignificant sentence online, can trigger a big emotional response from me. Last week I read something, and almost glossed over that sentence – but it stayed with me, has taken seed and grown in my mind, blossoming into a sunny, hot pink gerbera (my favourite flower).


The gist of it was simply this:

Imagine that it is 20 or 30 years from now and your kids are all grown up – they don’t need you any more, they are living their own lives, living their own dreams, and just don’t need mama like they used to. How much would you give to be able to jump into a time-travel machine, and go back in time, to right NOW – and get to experience just 10 minutes more of your small child - sitting on your lap, butterfly kisses, games of “This little piggy”… just 10 minutes more of soft baby cheeks, warm little bodies that just want to be picked up and held, and tucked into bed with a story at night… just 10 minutes more of the magic of believing in Santa and tooth fairies, wanting to hold your hand as you cross the road, needing you to kiss their knee scrapes until they feel better… just 10 minutes more with your little.

When your kids are grown, and don’t need you any more – how much will you miss it? Everyone tells you it goes so fast, and yes I’m experiencing that first hand. My baby is 9 months old already, my big girl will be 3 in December… still little, yes, but still growing up way too fast.

Even if you don’t have kids, there is no telling what the future holds for you. So, be it spending quality time with your family or significant other, making time to heap some lovin’ on your pets (lord knows they don’t live nearly long enough!) or simply basking in the gift of good health – live in the NOW, appreciate the NOW.

This is a beautiful, magical period in my life, and I know that in time I will miss everything that is going on now. We’ll grow into a different stage of our lives, and it will never be exactly the same again. In some ways it will be better, true – but mostly it will just be different.

Since I read about this, I’ve been thinking about it constantly. I’ve been trying to live in the moment for the last 6 months or more (hence the blog name change), but without a constant reminder, its easy to slip back into the old way of thinking, the old way of being.

So I’ve been putting the iphone down more, and getting my craft on with Skye. I’ve been turning off the TV and heading out into the garden, playing on the swings, or just taking Koby around to look and touch and feel the different textures of bark on the trees, or to look at the flowers. Instead of pushing away my senior cat who always wants to sit on my lap, I've been relishing the chance to pat and snuggle with him.  I’ve been getting less frustrated, less angry with a temperamental toddler, less annoyed at a grizzly baby… and just taking a moment to stop and REMEMBER, that no matter how tired or frazzled or even how bored I might sometimes get, I will be a little sad when this time has passed.

Saturday morning - getting our craft on...

All pom-pom monsters must have smiley-faces

Learning how to feed ourselves...

Gotta watch out for that Cheerio's theif!

I keep imagining that its 20 years from now, and I’m back here with another chance to experience my little babies again… and its really helping me to live in the now, and make each day count.