I think one of the things that most of us take for granted is that tomorrow is never a guarantee. Yesterday has gone and tomorrow may come but today is always something you can count on. Living with the mentality that today should be cherished and today is all we have guaranteed to us is a positive way to live life. With all of the fears, worries and then anxiety to fuel those emotions it’s no wonder we all get caught into the trap of over thinking tomorrow. What a wonderful life we would all have if we could pause our fears of tomorrow and remember that today is all you’re guaranteed.
Today Matters in Motherhood
Why am I talking about today on this blog about motherhood? Well it’s simple really, just as you should focus on today in your personal and business life, today matters in motherhood. Many moments pass you by as your children get older, grow taller and grow smarter. Today they are wondering if you can spare just one extra moment to read to them, listen to them, talk to them. Your children usually focus on today because that’s how simple life is to them. While the past can create anxiety within children, just as it does with adults, today is what most children focus on.
Take Time Today For Your Child
Just the other night my youngest child asked me if I could lay beside him just a little while longer. Usually I have tons of work to do at the end of the night and will tell him that I simply cannot for work is going to go into the late hours of the night if I continuously lay beside him for longer periods of time. After saying that to my son two nights in a row, I quickly noticed that his face looked disappointed. My poor son simply wanted just a few more minutes of my time. He didn’t want me to lay beside him hovered over that top bunk so he could stay awake and talk or be silly, he simply wanted his Mama there beside him for a minute longer.
As soon as the internal switch clicked and I realized that today is all you’re guaranteed, I stopped giving my youngest excuses to not lay beside him one moment longer. Now, when my son asks if I can lay beside him just a little longer, I do it. This thirty to sixty seconds of today isn’t going to push my work load out by hours, not at all. Sure I may have to work just a couple minutes longer if I lay with him hovered over that top bunk beside him as I watch his eyes drift off to sleep but today is all I know I have with him. That moment, as I lay beside him I watch my young son go from the high energy child into a peacefully sleeping child. In that moment I realize that these moments will pass me by, before I know it he will be a teenage boy who may not want that one moment longer of Mama being around.
Bittersweet Reality of Raising Children
The bittersweet reality of raising children is that you are but in their life as their caregiver for only a brief moment of time. You work hard to raise that child to be something. You encourage that child to think for himself, to be confident in who he is and then as this child becomes an adult you send them off into the world. No more moments to lie for just a few more seconds hovered over that bunk bed, watching him drift off to sleep. No more moments of him asking you to sit and read a book before bed. Every moment you could have said yes instead of no, will be gone in the blink of an eye.
Remember this story when you are laying your child down to bed this evening, think about your response when they ask for just a few more seconds of your time.
Sometimes, in a house where this child has to share his Mama with siblings, those few seconds before bed matter to him. This child gets to have just a few more seconds of his mother beside him, without the siblings interrupting or needing something and in those few seconds, you mean the world to your child because you took that moment to be there for him. Remember, you only have today so go on and live for today and be the Mama you desire to be, because we can’t get back those moments of our children wanting us to lay just a little longer. Cherish today, for it’s all you’re guaranteed.