My good friend recently showed me a little note book where she writes down all those important "kid" memories and milestones. What a very good idea, I thought to myself.
Just a second, that's what my blog used to be! I used to keep track of all those special memories right here. What happened?
As my kids get older (they are five and seven now), I've struggled with how much I should be sharing of their personal lives. We're getting close to the age where their school chums will have access to the Internet and will be able to Google anything and everything. I used to let it rip here, but if I get into our messy family business...that means anyone can read it. We're beyond the baby and toddler years and there's something about sharing our elementary school-level stories that makes me kind of unsettled.
That said, I think I'd like to explore where that fine line is. I've proven to myself that I'm pretty lame at tracking special kid memories anywhere other than this blog. I'm also realizing I have no ability to retain all this info on my own. That means I better step it up if my husband and I are ever going to have a general sense of what happened during our life as a young family. When did my kids start walking? Hmmmmm...good question. When did they lose their first tooth? Well hopefully that info is somewhere on this blog (although the little guy hasn't actually lost any teeth so I haven't screwed that memory up yet).
As I was reading the kids a bed time story tonight, my daughter managed to pull out our very loved (like there's missing wedges from gnawing gums kinda loved) copy of "Hush Little Baby" from my son's bookshelf. Both kids wanted me to read/sing it and were equally attentive and seemingly touched as I went through the pages. I told them I used to sing it to them every night. They both told me they remembered and both gave me this sweet hug. And while I'm focusing on the awesomeness and love, and not on the other (negative) child-induced baloney which has occurred in the past week, I'm blown away by how big and amazing these kids of mine have become. It seems like only yesterday that "Hush Little Baby" was a nightly staple.
These little people are my biggest challenge and my greatest joy. And I'm trying to stop and smell the coffee a bit more these days. I'm trying to be mindful. I'm trying not to lose my temper as easily because being a mad mama is super unhealthy. I'm trying not to yell because it makes us all feel like crap. I'm trying to remember that my children's frontal lobes are not yet developed and mine is (i.e. I'm the grown up). I'm trying to model the behavior I want to see in them (which is super hard). I'm going to yoga once a week because it makes me feel awesome, which makes me a better mama. And I really want to enjoy my kids while they are kids, so I'm trying to be more present. In a few years, they're probably not going to want to have much to do with me. If they're anything like I was as a teenager, I better be savoring the time I have now.
Starting this September, my kids will be on the same schedule at the same school for the first time ever. As you may have guessed, I'm starting to realize that everything is going by really fast (like I'm turning 40 next year. What is that all about?). I better pick up the pace and start keeping track of it all...right here at 24-7 Mommy.
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