Do Carpe Diem..

   Did you see the Don't Carpe Diem article? I know it was all over my facebook page.  After the 5th one I figured I better take some time to read it. When I read the article I felt like these Grandmas got a bad wrap.  My Mom is always telling me how fast my kids will grow up, and to enjoy it. I had one Grandma tell me once "raising kids is long days, but short years" and I loved that.  I was like yes! You are so right, and I have never forgotten it!  You have days when you are just counting down the time until you can finally put your kids to bed, but it feels like a snap of your fingers and your baby turned 9 years, 6 years, 10 months.  

   When I hear this comment I don't take it as: you better be enjoying every single moment of this! I think these Moms know better the anyone that motherhood is full of days when your just making in through by the skin of your teeth. They know how easy it is to get caught up in the muddle and not enjoy the beauty of the situation until it's to late. I think they are saying make sure you come up for air. Make sure you come out of the muck, poop, and throw up every once and a while. Look at your children and appreciate how beautiful they are.  Document their accomplishments. Take pictures of them peacefully sleeping, so you can remember your angels, when their not such angels anymore.  Because that is going to happen faster then you think. 

  The end of last year I was thinking how did it become December already? Did I find any happiness this year or was I just surviving? I know its easy when you have a new baby to just survive. I did find a lot of Joy last year, but I didn't feel like I took the time to acknowledge it, or savor it.  I didn't take a step back from the muddle and say Wow, now this is living!  I have made it my goal this year, my one and only.  

 Find the Joy, and acknowledge it to yourself.  

   When I was stressed out helping my son make those baseball cake pops, I took a step back when I realized I was freaking out because he we mixing red chocolate into the white chocolate.  I took a deep breath and said to myself this is supposed to be fun, and tried to calmly tell him to try and not do that anymore.  For Valentines Sister wanted a fancy dinner on fancy plates.  Husband and I didn't want to wait all night eating out, and plus it was a school night, and we went out "officially" the next night.  I finally pulled my china out of the boxes, and decided if not now when? It's not like I'll be entertaining the queen anytime soon or ever, and this is what it's for.  A new Valentines tradition has hopefully been started. We ate a fancy meal on fancy plates served out of fancy bowls.  It was fun, and we made it fun from the start when we looked at recipes. It was even fun to find more authentic fancy fettuccine noodles while we were grocery shopping. It was a lot of work, but it was something out of the ordinary, and now we are pros at making made from scratch salad dressing.  

   So instead of being annoyed by the Grandmas telling you to enjoy your children, take it as a reminder. Step back and ask yourself have I taken anytime this day, week, month, year to find joy in my children? Find Joy in my life?  It doesn't have to be a fancy vacation, a new outfit (all though those are pretty joyful), take a moment to enjoy your children. Even if it has to come in the form of watching them while they sleep on a really rough day. Create moments of Joy for you and your children, make memories with them so they can say to each other....Do remember that valentines when we ate on Moms china, and she didn't cook the pasta long enough, and you had the stomach flu?  That was fun/ funny! So Do Carpe Diem!

My joyful pictures from this week.

Leights in Shades...

You know how when it gets quite it is usually something bad? Well it was actually something good this morning. They were all in bed, and brother was reading to his sisters.  Leighton was in Heaven.
top one was uh oh, we got caught!

Then she figured out Mom was happy about the situation. 
-JS