Where Is the Time Going?
Time. I remember when Emma was very little I was sharing with a lady at church all of my frustrations. And there were a lot. She was a colicky baby. Every. Single. Night. From the hours of 11:00pm to 4:00am she would scream. No matter what I did, she creamed. Change a diaper...still screaming. Bottle...screaming. Walk...screaming. Car ride...screaming. Swaddle, sway, shushing...you got it, she was still screaming. I think those 10 months were one of the darkest parts of my life. I’ve only shared this with a very few people, but one night I just couldn’t do it anymore. I was scared for me. I was scared for Emma. Jerry worked night shift. So I was literally alone with this screaming child. I called my mother on this particular night and told her I was afraid I was going to do something stupid. She encouraged me to get in the car and come to her and she would help. It was 2:00am. I showed up and she took Emma and allowed me to sleep. But man those months were rough.
So I am sharing these frustrations with someone at church and she says “you’re going to miss this. Enjoy it now, it all goes so fast”. Knee jerk reaction? I wanted to hit this woman. Uhm, miss this? Nope.
But here we are. She’s now 13 and a half. Gabby is almost 11. Kota is almost 9. And we have added Álvaro to the mix. Do I miss the crying, demanding baby. No. But I do miss how much more simple everything was then and the few years that followed. The time when all the kids were little and the only things on the calendar were work related and an occasional child’s sporting event or dance class. I miss time to be together as a family.
We have always made it a huge part of our goal as a family to have dinner together every night. We sit together, with no electronics at all and share with each other how the day went. We share our favorite parts, and our least favorite parts, and what we are looking forward to most for the next day. We talk about events coming up. We talk about how their friends are doing. We have real genuine conversation. And we always have.
I was worried that Álvaro would not enjoy this tradition but more often than not he starts the conversation. It has been great. And I miss all of this so much.
Time is going so fast. The kids are all getting older and more involved. I love that they want to participate in things. What I don’t love is that we don’t get this special time together. Let me share with you what one day this week looked like.
I helped at school with picture day. Then had a meeting. Jerry got Kota and Álvaro from school. Gabby had tiger choir until 4:30. Emma had cheer practice until 5:00. Kota had soccer practice 5:30-6:30. And Emma had play practice 6:00-8:30. From the time they left for school until after 8pm there was not a single time that all 6 of us were home.
Now I’m not complaining about being busy. I could’ve told the kids that they couldn’t do these extra things. I’m excited to see them participate. I love watching Kota play soccer, and seeing Gabby sing with the choir, and watching Emma cheer. I’m excited to see her and Gabby in their first play. But time is flying by. And I know they are only “ours” for a short while. It seems the busier the schedule is, the faster time flies by. I feel like I will blink and it’ll be June and we will be taking our bonus son to catch a plane to fly back to Spain. And I will blink and Emma will be a freshman and then graduating. And Gabby and Kota will be right behind her.
I still don’t think the correct response to a tired, overwhelmed, exhausted mother is to say “enjoy it, because time flies”, but there is some truth to it. Where does the time go? It sure does speed past. My only hope is that as a family, we can take some of the little time we are all given together and make some fantastic memories. Time is flying, and we are going to make the most of it.
So I am sharing these frustrations with someone at church and she says “you’re going to miss this. Enjoy it now, it all goes so fast”. Knee jerk reaction? I wanted to hit this woman. Uhm, miss this? Nope.
But here we are. She’s now 13 and a half. Gabby is almost 11. Kota is almost 9. And we have added Álvaro to the mix. Do I miss the crying, demanding baby. No. But I do miss how much more simple everything was then and the few years that followed. The time when all the kids were little and the only things on the calendar were work related and an occasional child’s sporting event or dance class. I miss time to be together as a family.
We have always made it a huge part of our goal as a family to have dinner together every night. We sit together, with no electronics at all and share with each other how the day went. We share our favorite parts, and our least favorite parts, and what we are looking forward to most for the next day. We talk about events coming up. We talk about how their friends are doing. We have real genuine conversation. And we always have.
I was worried that Álvaro would not enjoy this tradition but more often than not he starts the conversation. It has been great. And I miss all of this so much.
Time is going so fast. The kids are all getting older and more involved. I love that they want to participate in things. What I don’t love is that we don’t get this special time together. Let me share with you what one day this week looked like.
I helped at school with picture day. Then had a meeting. Jerry got Kota and Álvaro from school. Gabby had tiger choir until 4:30. Emma had cheer practice until 5:00. Kota had soccer practice 5:30-6:30. And Emma had play practice 6:00-8:30. From the time they left for school until after 8pm there was not a single time that all 6 of us were home.
Now I’m not complaining about being busy. I could’ve told the kids that they couldn’t do these extra things. I’m excited to see them participate. I love watching Kota play soccer, and seeing Gabby sing with the choir, and watching Emma cheer. I’m excited to see her and Gabby in their first play. But time is flying by. And I know they are only “ours” for a short while. It seems the busier the schedule is, the faster time flies by. I feel like I will blink and it’ll be June and we will be taking our bonus son to catch a plane to fly back to Spain. And I will blink and Emma will be a freshman and then graduating. And Gabby and Kota will be right behind her.
I still don’t think the correct response to a tired, overwhelmed, exhausted mother is to say “enjoy it, because time flies”, but there is some truth to it. Where does the time go? It sure does speed past. My only hope is that as a family, we can take some of the little time we are all given together and make some fantastic memories. Time is flying, and we are going to make the most of it.
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