2020 is here! The arguments about whether this is or isn’t actually a new decade notwithstanding, we are all planning the next ten years. Today, a student and I were talking about resolutions and then I saw a post on Facebook from a friend in the similar vein. We all have children in the 4-13 age range and she said something that kind of stopped me in my tracks. She said, “10 years from now, many of our kids will be out on their own. I have spent this past decade loving and growing them that sometimes the mundane tasks of keeping them alive and keeping the house habitible rob me of the ability to see clearly and to remember to have fun with them. I am often not fully present in enjoying them in their entire uniqueness. Between feeding them, bills, schooling, chores, errands, extracurricular taxiing, and being a wife, I just think about the small, micro picture and I want this next decade to be filled with more moments of simple enjoyment with them as they grow more independent.”

I related so hard to this. Often, we ruminate on the philosophical importance of presence and how time is literally a thief, but then the sun rises and it is another day with the same responsibilities and the same heaviness of that responsibility. We get in our heads and think, “tomorrow” and then it doesn’t happen partially because we allow fear to take over (what if I don’t get this floor immaculate? this has to be done or else…) and partially because we don’t commit to it!

The thing is, the commitment part does not ever have to be grand or extravagant. It can be as simple as using your Passion Planner to color code storytime at bedtime, or setting a 30 minute alarm before dinner has to be started to sit on the carpet and play with ponies together. It can be as easy as taking every Saturday morning to wake up together, play together, get brunch, and walk around a park. Time sure as hell commits to moving at a non-negotiable pace. Who cares if your kiddo’s outfit doesn’t match perfectly? Get out there and play! What does it matter in the grand scheme of things if you have cereal for dinner if it allows you to color together?

I am saying this just as much for myself. This past decade went by faster than the speed of light and this next one will move with just as much urgency. I’m not letting it pass me by to leave me with “shoulda, coulda, woulda”. Let’s use the hindsight now.

To a more present decade with our kids!

Love,

Heather