So easy to walk around half asleep. Or half awake. Whichever. Neither is good.
There's so much happening. The world is turning, life is passing by... I need my eyes open.
Thankyou Cat and Gail for your thought-provoking posts. I am taking a leaf from your books and listing here some things I've noticed, now that I stop to think about it...
THINGS I HAVE NOTICED...
- Time flies. It really does. Time's wings are silvery sleek and she just slips past without us realising.
- Time is slippery and impossible to grasp. You can't hold onto a moment no matter how hard you try.
- Time brings change. Always. Constant change is the paradox we live in.
- Chubby sticky dimpled little hands are wonderful to hold. They make your heart go flip-flop.
- Grownups are always busy. Kids find that quite annoying.
- Temper tantrums can often be halted by a snuggle or a warm shower (that goes for grownups too).
- Leaving dinner prep until 5pm is a guaranteed recipe for chaos.
- My kids watch too much television... Way. Too. Much.
- Letting my kids watch too much TV is way too convenient. It is also a recipe for guilt.
- Chaos and guilt are just plain awful! They leave a terrible taste in my mouth and a nasty ache in my stomach. Those recipes suck!
Certain songs really tug at my heartstrings. Abba: Slipping Through my Fingers. There's one to make you think.- Little girls grow up too fast. You want to hold onto them and always be able to kiss their sweet sleeping cheeks and put pigtails in their hair, but you can't do it forever.
- Spending time with good friends is like taking medicine. I feel so much better knowing I am not the only mother struggling with guilt and chaos.
- The Housework is not going anywhere. If I clean up, the mess will be back in five minutes, so i might as well play choochoo trains instead.
- Playing choochoo trains is a good use of the afternoon. It is also good medicine for guilt over the excessive amount of TV certain little people watched earlier.
- No matter how much dinner I put on my schoolboy's plate he will still come back later looking for weetbix.
- No matter how much weetbix my schoolboy has before bed, he will still call out asking for a drink of milk and a cookie. Might as well just accept that fact and go with it.
- Children grow up too fast. While I was sleeping my baby turned into a toddler, my toddler turned into a schoolboy. And as soon as I turn my head away for a second I just know that my schoolboy will become a teenager. It will happen in the blink of an eye and I can't stop it or slow it down.
- No matter how many good intentions I have, with the slightest excuse I will not make it to the gym that day. Or that week. Or the week before. I really should never have signed up.
- Some things never change. Once a procrastinator, always a procrastinator. Once a workaholic always a blogaholic, er... um... yes I admit it. My blogging addiction is out of control.
- I need to turn off my computer more. But it's so haaaard! I like it here in Blogland. There is no guilt or chaos. Just afterwards. When I walk out and find...
> the toddler has taken the Sky access card and used it to play shops. It will take an all out hunt by the whole family to find it and restore access to our TV...
> the toddler has become very adept at changing DVDs all by himself; he can work the remote just great. I know this because I left him watching Thomas the Tank Engine, but when I return he is watching Hi-5...
> the toddler has helped himself to three yoghurts from the fridge. he is walking around eating them and dropping glops of yoghurt in a trail behind him...
>he also helped himself to some fresh baked scones and there is one smeared into the rug in the lounge. I only have myself to blame...
These are the things that happen when I do not notice what is going on. When I walk around half awake or half asleep. Whichever. Neither is Good. I need to wake up and live more completely in the Real World. Because Time flies. It really does.
Abba: Slipping Through my Fingers. !!!WARNING!!!Tissue Alert!!!
This is so great! You should link up with my post today!
ReplyDeleteThose are great thoughts. My computer is in the lounge so the kids interrupt me all the time. Right now they are busy with a box and some crayons and pencils. This is a Good Thing.
ReplyDeleteI could have written a lot of what you said!!
(Oh, and I am going to take pictures - I unfortunately missed all the truly "before" pics and will have to start with the "before paint and lino" pics.)
Sweet and honest!
ReplyDeleteOh I think we have started something here
ReplyDeleteLOVE THIS SIMONEY!!!
Yup
Eyes wide open friend....amazing what we really do see
love and light
love and appreciate the honesty!
Funny and painfully true too; time does slip past so fast and though it is great therapy to blog it all down, to look upon it, reflect and analyse it, it is much, much better when we truly live it fully, in the moment, embracing every feeling.
ReplyDeleteSchool holidays start for us tomorrow and I think I'll be "playing choo-choo trains" (or painting some nails and going to the zoo) a little more. thanks for the reminder....
ReplyDeleteThis is so lovely, Simone :) I've forwarded a link on to my friends so they can love it too. Thanks for the reminder...
ReplyDeleteSimone...you ROCK...
ReplyDeleteIt's blogs like this that remind me...Im not the only one thinking all of those things!! (and coming out from my use of the computer to all of those chaotic findings...) :) heehee...
It's always so awesome to hear others are going through exactly the same stuff!!
Thanks for the blog...loved it!
Hi I'm visiting from marketingtomilk's blog and I have to say I was completely jumping-up-and-down-stoked when I saw your banner! You live in my hometown!!!!! I'm a crazy Kiwi expat who moved to North Hampshire for my Englishman - this great guy I met in Paris in 2007. So at the tender age of 40 I moved across the world with my three kids, dog, cat and all my earthly possessions. From vegemite to Englishm marmite, from sun and sea (I used to live in St heliers!) to snow and sleet, from beautiful beaches to Blighty, from home to Hampshire. I love your gentle reminder to count the moments. 'Life we learn too late is in the living, in the tissue of every hour'.
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up with me this week too. It is a great reminder to slow down a little, turn off the computer more, be less 'busy' etc. but always so hard to do. All the best. Lou.
ReplyDeleteI loved this post. LOVED IT. Just right for my headspace. I find it so easy to be guilty about not spending enough time with my precious babes with having just returned to working full-time. When I think about how many minutes a day I get to spend with each of them during the working week it's not much at all, and I feel so guilty. Instead just have to grab the preciousness in every minute I do have. The guilt will always be there, even if I was at home I'd just be guilty about something else (like maybe watching too much TV ;-)) I just need to learn to ignore it. When weekends come, must must just savour each and every moment! Time is precious, it really is. Thanks for the reminder :-)
ReplyDeleteOh i loved this post too.
ReplyDeleteRemember this one:
http://marketingtomilk.wordpress.com/2010/04/28/time/
The passing of time makes me sad. i want to grab hold of it with both hands and never let go.
The silly thing is that we're usually too busy busy busy to really open our eyes to moment. I love the sights and sounds you have documented.