DAYS ARE LONG, YEARS SO SHORT

"A parent's days are long, but the years, so short."


I have heard this quote and talked about it with other mommies so many times....
Why is that?  Are we overdoing things sometimes??  It's crazy!


We wake up to some days of insanity-the dog pees on the rug, no one ran the
dishwasher,
seven bills to pay, and the cars in the shop with four baseball games at six....
Your head is spinning in one million, five hundred and two directions, all
with ideas on
how you are going to finish this list of yours, and make anyone involved, happy.
Now can you just drink your coffee before tackling the world??


One woman, one hundred ways to be the best. 
And every single day, you wake up
to try again.


I think there is so much to be amazed with, in our every day.  So many grand,
wonderful
things that we will see, take part in, and enjoy more , if we included in that
outline of our day, being present.
Mommies across the world, have so much to eat on that daily plate, that many aren't "tasting" as
they swallow it down.
They aren't able to bring the fork slowwlyy to their lips, not only getting to
anticipate what is about
to fill their stomachs, but even getting to enjoy being full.


If you feel your days are long, maybe its because yes, sometimes they are
just that, full.
But other times, our own doing...our own FAULT.
Self inflicting, this demand of ours.
Things must be tackled with perfection, and tackled immediately.  And
then it's tomorrow, and time to do it all again.
And that, my friends, is why the years end up feeling so short!


If your minute to minute of hustle and bustle are drug out,
but it seems like just yesterday you were
dropping your fifth grader off at Pre-k, then there is the proof in the statement
above, life is
speeding by. 
And we need to grab hold of that train and not just get our ticket stamped.
We need to ride with our own windows down and
faces to the wind.


The "rat race" of life, in most cases, can be controlled. 
It is chosen, (to a point), and anyone that says differently,  needs to take a
closer look.
Just as we are meant to have "life" along with working,  we aren't meant to
pack every single
sport, recreation and school activity into our kid's childhood or our own lives
with our kids.
There should be time here and there, to build a tent, rent a movie, or go on a
walk in
the back woods of your neighborhood. 
Their creative mind should be awoken here or there, to pretend they are
superheros, tying your
sheets around their necks.
Or store cashiers,
lining up your can foods next to a calculator.
I didn't need a Nintendo DS or a laptop, in the 1980s.
I started a water ice stand, and pushed the button on my snoopy snow
cone machine in the
driveway with my sisters. 

If there is no "free time" leftover, it is one more reason, you are overwhelmed
with long- butt days...
Stuffing your hours to the max is creating a life where
no one feels their time is showing. 
No one is feeling "gratified", because there isn't twenty minutes left, to
fit that
feeling in.


The reason we may feel days are long is because many people cannot
picture it
ever coming to an end...
Just as the concept of our house ever being clean again, we can't always
see that
in just a few
short years, our kids wont need this much attention, or explanation...
Moms are screaming at the mall when they're Christmas shopping, they're
worried about everything always looking perfect, instead of taking the time
to involve anyone,
making things more fun...
I know that every day can't be a dream scenario, but it doesn't have to be
THAT HARD either.


So many parents get burned out in exhaustion, solely because of their own
expectation.
Organization, never running behind, dropping a ball, or being tired...
Truth is no matter how your vision is for parenthood, you will have days that
you fail...
You forget something, or had 2.5 hours of sleep due to the stomach flu....
But life goes on....it is universal, and up to you to embrace it-
Because you know what?  Time will move, with or without you....


Look at your own family and where you are today...
Don't you remember JUST having your children, now matter how old they are??
The "younger years'-
The first coos, smiles, scooting across the rug for the
first time??
How proud you were???  Jumping  up and down...
The little teeth popping up, the "da-da", "mommmmmaaaas"....
Pre- School, with their first artwork, and little Holiday shows...


Yes, those years are full of emotion and sleep deprivation-
Were lugging the infant seats, diaper bags, strollers-
But once they're packed away, so are the chubby little drooling cheek smiles,
and the cookie
fingers touching your face and your white shirt...:)
The little piggies that don't smell yet, and the arms stretched out when you
walk to their crib, like
you are the end -all to life.


And then you get the Kindergarten registration-:(


You envision, where you are now, as being this way forever----
Newsflash, they won't be begging us to play UNO or Candy land for that
many years....
They won't need rides to every sport, or friends house,  for too much
longer either-
But that thought doesn't come into play often, because we are in the
midst of it-
We are the center of all that is needed right now, so we push play, and
we go....

Teenagers will not always be sarcastic, and rolling their eyes...
They will leave for prom, and then for college...
The years of lecturing them about making good choices and wondering
when they'll ever not think you're lame will end...
And you will be buds, can you imagine that? 
They will be your friend one day....


We should know better to believe what feeling is created in life's chaos...
We know were aware,  we cry our eyes out to videos of DON'T BLINK,
or people's home movies of their own
kids growing up-
We listen wisely to the elderly who say these are the best years you will live.
But we let the shuffle change our outlook sometimes-
Instead of the opposite- letting us, rearrange that shuffle...


We need to get off the auto-pilot. 
We need to re-focus so that
we are present, and able to enjoy all that comes our way-
If a mom can wake up, reminding herself, there days are limited and on loan
to us, I bet it
could make a huge difference on how easily she becomes frustrated
with the list in front of her that she sometimes thinks will never be done.
If she thought of how fast life has gone already, it may just may allow her to
enjoy her circus, that much more.


Having eight kids, doesn't make me an expert by any means...it really is just
having done
it eight times, and maybe having a bunch more experiences to talk about-
I'm not a pro or know it all, but I feel the heart of all us mommas when it comes to
wanting to
do the best I can, in the most important job I could ever be given.


But I do have a lucky streak besides having eight healthy, sweet kids-
I was given this little token of finding it easy to make my days fun and involve
everyone
in this amazing life I get to live-
I've always been good at huggin insanity, making things into memories and not
sweating the small stuff....
Which is probably what led to wanting a big family, and why I love doing a
mommy blog.

I have met so many moms that find that hard, and I hope to help (even in a small way)
in that area...
In fact, (as corny as it sounds), my dream is that my little stories or writings, can not
only make
you laugh, (because that's the most important lesson of all) but maybe
change the things you feel are holding you back, from
having more fun in your life...

We all have our areas-
Things we could teach someone, and the things we
could use ideas for. 
And all of us, an outlook that is realistic and true.

We are guaranteed to hit icebergs, hellooo....it is a promise.
And our kids are going to have kids, and they will too...it's called life.
But it is up to us, to adjust our sails and upon choppy waters, still enjoy our ride.


The best memories we can create, ones that will forever stick out in our minds,
are times when we probably will have had no plan.
There was no worry, because there was no expectation.
Try and make a lot of those-it is freeing.
Have days when you say, lets just go with the flow, and see what happens...

God wants this to be the ride of your life....so let it be. 
We have no hand in how fast the years go-
But we can make the best of the days, that lead us up to them....


Hugs! :)