Enjoy NOW.

I was talking with some friends this weekend about how sometimes we kind of “wish” our life away–can’t wait until our kids are out of this or that stage, can’t wait until they’re all in school and we’ll have free time….etc. But the reality is that I DON’T want to wish away this time, that I’ll MISS the innocence of my children, how they let me snuggle and love them and they still consider me to be a best friend…I don’t want to let it pass me by. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. Actually I’ve talked about it with a few different friends recently. It’s just easy to get caught up in the frustrations of motherhood and the craziness of life and forget to enjoy our kids NOW, today.

I do love where my kids are right at this moment in life even though sometimes I feel like I might go insane!! They really are delightful people and I love to be with them. I want to enjoy NOW, before it’s over! I guess I’m feeling sort of sentimental/emotional about it all. Probably with the baby coming so soon and with my oldest baby turning 5 in a few weeks. Where did the time go? And when did Annie become a “grown-up baby” instead of a “little baby” (as Brandon describes it)??

I really like this book by a woman named Janene Wolsey Baadsgaard: Why Does My Mother’s Day Potted Plant Always Die? It’s a funny and true look at motherhood with some tender lessons that have inspired me. I’ve read it before in a previous book group but recently I pulled it off my shelf to remember the little snippets that sparked something inside of me. I wanted to share some of the quotes so that they don’t remain buried in the pages, so that I can remember them and apply them and maybe hopefully help someone else out there who might need it. (Pardon the weird spacing–I blame Blogger.)

“It occurred to me that perhaps all the work involved in caring for a young family as like our newly seeded lawn. It seems to be all work and water at first–and it’s hard to see the tender seedlings beneath the weeds.

I knew then that if I didn’t stop and look, I would miss something important. I would miss the joy in my children’s growing. In time they, like the lawn, would not require my constant care. And the time would have passed all too quickly.

Perhaps, unlike my neighbor had suggested, this was not the best time of life. In fact, it might be no better or worse than any other time. But I would have this time only once–and if I missed the joy of growing in everything around me or within myself, I would truly miss it all.” (p5)

“Life with children is like a career in archaeology. It sounds romantic and idealistic before you try it yourself. In reality, both require a little lunacy and a great deal of dirt under the fingernails. So why do so many women opt for a life with kids? We’re treasure hunters, that’s why….

You see, it wasn’t the grit, sun and sore muscles that brought me so much satisfaction at a dig. It wasn’t the spit-up and dirty diapers that brought me so much satisfaction with my child. It was and is the constant anticipation of finding treasure underneath what other people call work…

It is that same constant anticipation of finding treasure that sustains mothers everywhere today. Complete with mops and toilet plungers, mothers are the ultimate lifetime volunteers. Somewhere between the kitchen sink and the diaper pail, mothers are daily discovering something beneath all that mess.

Mothers everywhere dig through large mounds of accumulated childish clutter
day after day. But there are times when we find a giggling toddler under all that mess, begging to be tickled, begging to be discovered, begging to be enjoyed. We may not be able to put that in a museum, but it’s more than enough for us.” (p9-11)

“So on those days when I wonder when or if I’ll accomplish anything of importance…if I’ll ever get caught up on the laundry…if I’ll ever get that oft-rejected article or book published..then I remember I can count myself in the company of any of the masters of any of the arts. I am, day by day, accomplishing the highest of all art, the greatest of life’s work. My children are my finest work, my personal masterpieces.” (p44)

This one makes me laugh–don’t we all feel this way???

“I know I am the only mother on the planet who has oily hair, warts, and hairy legs. All the other mothers are sleek and beautiful. If they’re not beautiful, they’re probably smart, rich, or humble, or they do their geneology.” (p45)

I especially love the geneology part.

Anyway, some thoughts for today. I’ll probably share more quotes from this book as I reacquaint myself with it. Now I’m going to go make fun messes with my kids. My little lovies.