This Saturday evening my nine year old daughter was doing a school project at the kitchen table- a mod podge dinosaur valentines box. I was perched on the couch with my five year old behind me playing with my hair, while my seven year old sat next to me anxiously waiting for her turn to play hair stylist. All the while my girls and I having conversations about life, school, love, and many questions about marriage, my wedding day, and even taking a peek at our wedding photo album.
We had Pandora radio on and the song “Good Old Days” by Macklemore had started to play. As the song played the lyrics struck a chord with me. I felt that right here, right now, this moment, I am going to reflect back on as one of the good old days. While it is simple and sweet, this, right here, was a new core memory - my girls doing arts and crafts in the background, my girls wanting to play with my hair, my girls wanting to learn their parent’s love story, and all of them so young, innocent, sweet, and full of glee and smiles and hope for the evening.
As I deeply felt all the feels, I reminded myself that I needed to savor this moment: the evening dusk setting in, the soft smell of the candle glowing in the windowsill, the bright green tissue paper melting into the box as my daughter softly brushed on mod podge, the sound of the music playing and my girls giggling, the innocent touch of little hands brushing and braiding my hair. For a moment, the world felt still, calm, and so full of peace.
Momma’s out there- I encourage you to cherish these sweet moments and breath them in, deeply inhale and exhale, so that the moment can be fully savored and fully remembered. The days of motherhood when your children are young seem so long, yet the years seem so short and just fly by without advanced warning.
Let’s try to remember to make these moments count. And to do that, we need to stop worrying about all the other stuff, because after all it is just stuff! There will always be laundry to wash, dishes to clean, floors to sweep, and projects to complete. Your kiddos will not be this little, this sweet, this innocent, or this curious about everything for long. Before we know it, they have matured, have a million preferences and two million opinions about anything and everything.
I encourage you to reflect on today, it is a gift. That’s why they call it the “present”. What new core memories will you have today? Will you savor them? Or will you let them pass you by as your to-do list gets checked?
Praying we can all take these precious moments today to enjoy our kids, our spouse, our friends, our coworkers, our family, and our creator. Let them all know you care, that they are in your thoughts, or that you are reflecting on a core memory you have with them that makes you smile. I promise – it will be reciprocated and before you know it, you might just have one of the best days ever. May your day be truly blessed!
“I wish somebody would have told me babe
Some day, these will be the good old days
All the love you won't forget
And all these reckless nights you won't regret
Someday soon, your whole life's gonna change
You'll miss the magic of these good old days”