Summertime Sweetness For Moms

I love these days.  Though it is flying by, the lazy pace of summer makes me more apt to drink in the beauty around me:
the comforts of my home, insanely funny little comments from my four-year-old, hugs from my boys (which are feeling very much like man-hugs), American Girl dreams with my blondie, almost-15-years-of-forever with the love of my life...these are the things that matter, ya know? 

I wouldn't trade fingerprints and laundry piles for sparkling glass and time to rest, rv's and campgrounds for elite hotels on exclusive resorts, dirty toes and flip flops for perfectly pedicured posies, endless questions and competing voices for serene candlelit dinners, or bbq pork with mac-n-cheese for filet mignon with asparagus.  Not that the alternatives aren't appealing, but it's a fact that fingerprints, laundry piles, camping, dirty toes, flip flops, endless questions, competing voices, and bbq pork with mac-n-cheese are a few of the trademarks of our home, and these are the moments that can only be savored now. 

Sometimes it's hard to appreciate the role that we currently play.  We long for escapes like some that I mentioned (who doesn't dream, right?), and occasionally it's important to take the time to step back and to refresh and refocus - maybe even by indulging in one of the above.  But many times our battles aren't exhaustion or unhealthy stress levels, rather they are a result of distraction or boredom.  We get tired of breaking up fights, cleaning up spilled milk, washing the unending mountains of clothing, putting together healthy, kid-friendly meals, repeating the same mantras day in and day out, and on and on...

Although I have my share of these moments, let me encourage both of us to embrace the ordinary, seek contentment in the routine, and make each and every day of summer twenty twelve a memory worth keeping.  These moments will never again be as they are now, and we are wise to fix the precious images in our minds and hearts. 

I have to say, I'm enjoying my children being less dependent on me for every need.  They can each dress, toilet, and feed themselves (woo hoo!), and we have entered a new and different stage in parenting.  However, just as quickly as they moved from complete dependence to their individual levels of semi-independence, time will certainly push us even more quickly toward the day that they will spread their wings and fly right out of our little nest into a life of their own.  I will be satisfied with myself if I know that I have cherished the moments, savored the days, and made the most of every opportunity God has given me in fulfilling the great task of motherhood. 

All the while, life is rushing by us

Hold it now and don’t let go

These are the days

The sweetest days we’ll know
~Vanessa Williams