Slowing Down

Dear Mama,

I know you’ve been there. That time when you had 1,000 things to do; wait, I mean 10,000. You know what I’m talking about. Your child is waiting at your feet, just wanting to be held, but you just don’t have the time. So you continue to do what you were trying to get done. Then it happens again, and again, and AGAIN. You finally cave and then realize, why did I not stop earlier? Why did I not just SLOW DOWN? Mama, don’t beat yourself up. We are all a work in progress. A process called slowING down.

I don’t know about you, but if you are anything like me, sometimes my biggest critic is myself. Yes, I see all over social media and various avenues on how to be the “best” mom or how to be the “perfect” parent, and I sometimes feel like I am getting it all wrong. I really do. Sometimes I think that in order to BE more, I have to DO more. But I’ve got it all wrong folks. I could literally run around all day, trying to make the best life for my child, and still go to bed at night, feeling like I’ve gotten no where.

Now don’t get me wrong. Mazy is a busy 2 year old. She LOVES to keep busy, explore, check new places out, etc. So I try to feed into that curiosity when I can, but I can EASILY get caught up in the wrong reasons as to WHY I am doing those things. Even when it comes to my daily to-do lists. They can seem like a mile long and as you know, it’s sometimes hard to get even one thing done. But as I am trying to get my to-do list done, I can so easily look past what is happening right before my very eyes.

My little 2 year old will one day be a senior in high school, preparing to head off to college. At that moment, I think I will be wishing for these times back. I would have to say our generation of mothers are very involved in our kids’s lives. Just look at Pinterest and that’ll show you the desires we have, right? I do think there is a healthy balance of playing with your children and letting them play on their own. But I know one day, I will wish I slowed down more often.

Raising children are some busy years. I say that a bit naive because I only have one child, but I am not naive to realize they are just busy years. Even though that is the plain ole truth, I don’t want that to be the excuse I have for not slowing down. Slowing down enough to not wish the time away. Slowing down enough so that I can savor each day. Slowing down enough so that when that day comes, when Lord-willing we send her off down the aisle, I wouldn’t wish I had done things differently.

I have failed many times before. I have failed to slow down to take in the moment. I have failed to slow and “hojee” which means “hold me” in Mazy’s language. And in reality, if I held her every time she asked me to, I would never be leaving our couch. Honest truth.

Recently I wanted to make a new muffin recipe and thought, “why not have Mazy help?” Of course muffin batter is a bit messy, but I let her put the muffin cups in the muffin tins and she could fill the cups with fruit loops until it was time to put the batter in. Oh to hear her say “I try, I try…” Girl, you’ve got my heart. Yes, I will slow down and let you try.

Mama, you are doing what you can. Don’t try to do it all. In fact, you CAN’T do it all. Your child does not expect you to. In fact, all your child needs is to know they are loved, that they belong, and that they need Christ. 3 things, folks. That’s it. That’s a short to-do list.

Time to slow down, my friend!