Slow down.
I say these words to my children countless times throughout the day. I say it when they bang their elbow into the doors as they run by, when they knock their cups over as they reach for something at the table, and when they ride a bike too fast around a corner. Without a doubt, there would be fewer injuries and mess if they would heed my warning. I also ask them to slow down when I see they are getting upset and overwhelmed, hoping they can take a breath and work through it. When I really think about it though, they aren’t the only ones who need to slow down! From one task to the next, it feels like a mad rush for my husband and I as we try to meet the needs of each of our children and day-to-day life. From getting everyone ready to go out the door to putting meals on the table, it is sometimes as if we are trapped in a board game and someone is constantly flipping the little sand timer over on us. Our hearts beat a little faster, our hands get a little shakier, and the pressure is on!
Things have been a little extra rushed and hectic the last few months as our one-year-old started walking. As toddlers do, he is either getting into something he shouldn’t be or falling down. Our older kids help out a lot and love their baby brother, but it still adds a certain level of stress to the household when a little one is underfoot. One child is trying to get help with his homework while another is crying because we are out of ice cream and proclaims it is the worst day of his life. The other one just wants to show us his magic trick but the baby has thrown yet another meal on the ground and is demanding that he gets to hold the entire banana. Of course, it will just be mashed between his chubby fingers and yep-you guessed it-thrown onto the floor. Meanwhile, I’m just trying to get the dishwasher unloaded for the second time that day and wondering if anyone fed the dog or moved the third load of laundry over. Slow down? That sounds insane when there is always so much happening at once. So many needs, so little time. Slowing down isn’t something that moms really feel like we have the option of doing.
Quite honestly, during the younger years of our children’s lives when we are in such high physical demand, there aren’t many ways to go slower and keep everything functioning at the same time. Sure, not everything truly has to be done at hyper-speed, but it definitely feels like it most of the time! Emotionally and physically, moms just have to keep pushing forward and stay the course. As much as I feel like throwing in the towel at times when things are just too chaotic and overwhelming, I know that it won’t be like this forever. It’s true, there are the really crazy days when I feel like escaping to my room and never coming out. The extra-messy, teething, bickering, chore and errand packed days can be a lot to handle. But lately, as we go through the toddler stage for the fourth time, I’m finding there are a lot of days when I laugh at and actually enjoy the chaos. It’s just so ridiculous at times that you have to laugh!
Don’t get me wrong, sometimes there is crying, and not just from the children. But the fact is that this is our life right now. Yes, it sounds like we’re hosting a big party here most of the time when it’s really just the six of us. I can’t even imagine how the volume will increase as my boys get older. The toys and cups crashing to the floor, the crying baby, the preschooler screaming to be heard over his brothers, those will all give way to deeper voices, wrestling matches with much bigger bodies, and louder discussions. The thing I love about it all is when I look around the table at my children as the commotion ensues, I wonder how their upbringing will shape them. How it will impact who they become. I think they are so lucky to have each other and to grow up in a lively, loving, sometimes psychotic environment. I hope someday when they are grown, they will see it that way too and will appreciate the dynamics that have been formed and the memories that were made. Someday, my husband and I will have quiet dinners and a clean floor again. When we turn on a movie together, we won’t have to pause it ten times or watch it over the span of three days. I know we won’t miss every bit of the demanding, daily responsibilities of raising children. But I also know that my mom heart will ache to hear those chubby feet running down the hallway again, to hear my boys having their conversations about the school day, and to hear the often passionate discussions about what family movie we will watch after dinner or who gets the most sprinkles on their ice cream.
Kids may be clumsy, loud, and impulsive, but when I really think about it-no one knows quite how to slow down better than a child. I adore the ways that they slow down when they stop to look for shapes in the clouds on a spring day, how they follow a bumblebee from flower to flower or find a family of roly-poly bugs to play with. They see such beauty in the little things. I love when I hear an airplane overhead and my kids are playing outside, do you know what they do every single time without fail? They all stop what they are doing and look up in wonder. It always makes me smile and wish I knew what they were thinking in those moments. I hope they always find things in life that they can slow down and marvel at, no matter how old they get. We could all use a little more of that couldn’t we? In this crazy, fast-paced life. We can still find little moments to slow down and really take in the world around us, just like our kids do. Even when we can’t slow down the daily obligations and tasks while we are raising children, we can learn so much from them and try to see the world through their eyes once in a while.
“Slow down, won’t you stay here a minute more. I know you want to walk through the door. But it’s all too fast, let’s make it last a little while. I pointed to the sky and now you wanna fly.”-Slow Down by Nichole Nordeman
Watch the Slow Down video here.
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