Perfect Ordinary Days, Part One

Recently a high school friend and I were chatting on Facebook about how quickly children grow up. The post that started a run of 12 comments was so simple yet touches the heart of every mother.

I can't believe the school year is coming to a close and my boys
will be in 2nd and 4th grade next year. It really makes you re-evaluate what is most important. Time flies and these moments won't last forever.

The first response to this was from another high school classmate of ours. He wrote that his daughter is graduating from high school in a few weeks. As a mom of a 3 and 7 year old, I almost can’t imagine that even happening to me. I will be 58 years old and it will be 2026, so it seems a long way off. But I know it’s closer than it seems so I should take my friend’s words of “these moments won’t last forever” to heart. Even more than that, I want to be intentional about appreciating the everyday blessings occurring right in front of my eyes. The kind of blessings that can be seen as annoyances – like getting toddlers dressed while they’re running away from you or spending way too much time explaining the sock seams are just fine and please just put your shoes on! In the midst of this kind of shoe-and-sock madness, it might not feel like a blessing but later that night I laugh about it. And then try to look forward to it happening all over again the next day.

The more I thought about it, I asked myself exactly what moments am I thinking about? The birthdays, dance recitals, first and last days of school are all well documented. We all get out our cameras for these moments. What will I really miss as I drop my first born off at her college dorm? For me, I’ll miss the simple, hanging out moments watching a movie, the countless Disney Channel TV shows like “Shake it Up” and “Phineas and Ferb.” I’ll miss waking her up at 7:15 a.m. for school, packing a lunch I hope she eats, looking at her beautiful sleeping face with legs tangled up in the blankets.

I’ll miss the huge run-and-hug she greets me with every day after school, so hard
it almost knocks me over. I’ll miss asking her what she wants for lunch on a
weekend and then cheerfully saying, “Thank you for your order!” as we play
restaurant at home. I’ll miss reading American Girl Doll books with her and
baking cookies on a whim just because we want to.

Then there’s the routine stuff that feels like the most thankless moments of a mother’s daily to-do list. “Brush your teeth, comb your hair, you need to wear clean underwear, is your homework done, stop poking your sister ...”  But one day, in the not-so-distant future, there won’t be any little girls in my house to say any of that to. In a few decades someone may have to be reminding me to brush my teeth and comb my hair.

I know one day I will wake up to a house that seems so utterly empty and quiet. There won’t be any goldfish cracker crumbs under the table. Flowery hair clips, tutus and princess toothbrushes won’t be anywhere in sight. My upstairs living room will cease to be a playroom. Every room in my house stands a very good chance at being clean at the same time. There won’t be any frozen Gogurts, juice boxes or chicken nuggets in the fridge or freezer.

So I try to celebrate the ordinary days I find myself in. If I don’t, they will pass me by and it will be me wondering where the time went as I’m the one sending my oldest off to college. I will try to capture and relish the ordinary moments in a way I can celebrate them now and remember them decades from now. Maybe it's through journaling or simply maintaining our Little Rhody family traditions year after year, like going to Hilltop Creamery on opening day, sun or rain or snow!

In next week’s blog post, I’ll be sharing a book and a concept that changed how I view my daily life as a mom.