Here I am at week three already and again a bit late! I’m finding this stage in life to be incredibly overwhelming. I have little kids– a three month old, an almost three year old and an almost six year old. They are busy, and loud and needy! Which leaves me pulled in many, many different directions! There are many days where I feel like I’m doing nothing well. Trying to be a mom, a wife, a photographer, a house cleaner, a blogger and a child of God can be exhausting. These days just seem to fly by! And so I wanted to blog this week about ages and stages. I know I have blogged about this before but this is what really spoke to me this week.
This week has also been the first week of lent and this is what got me thinking about things. As part of lent I’ve given up Facebook from 8 in the morning until 8 at night. Someone commenting on my post regarding this that it really isn’t giving up Facebook then. We’ll he’s right I’m not really giving it up– but I am giving myself a fast of it for 12 hours a day. As a stay-at-home mom it is easy to pop on Facebook during the day and waste time! I really feel that those 12 hours during the day are now going to my primary and most important job– being a mom! I can really focus my time with them now. I don’t feel a need to check or waste time on it. If I have a boring moment (which is rare!) rather than turning my brain off I can engage with my kids.
And its really important for me to be with my kids right now. I’ve heard this saying so many times and I know I’ll hear it again, “They’ll only be young for so long, the time goes by fast!” And every time I hear it, I internally roll my eyes because in the current moment it all just seems overwhelming. But in the quiet moments of my days it does speak truth. In the first tooth that is lost by my daughter, it speaks truth. When my son wears big boy Angry Bird underwear, it speaks truth. When my small three month old turns her body to start to roll, it speaks truth! Time does go by fast! And we only have so much of it with our littles to imprint on them.
This first week of lent has been a good week so far. I feel I have more time during the day. I feel like my energy is more focused in community with actual people rather than catching up on the latest and greatest on Facebook. I am finding I am saying yes more to my kids when they ask me to do something with them. And I’m finding myself actually being able to read a book!
I haven’t taken a picture this week to reflect my ages and stages or the chaoticness of our lives right now but I’ll leave you with this image. This is of my son looking in on his new sister. I love this photo because it shows me how little she still is. She is still small enough that she fits in the bassinet and it shows the inquisitiveness of my son. He always needs to know what is going on. Such a sweet quiet memory.
