On Seizing the Day

I crawled my way  through a blown-up bounce-house obstacle course, with my sweet {not-so-baby} girl laughing at my heels. we collided at the bottom of the slide and  Gracie-girl burst into that irresistible toddler-belly-laughter that always makes me want to scoop her up and squeeze her tight and laugh with her forever.

today, we laughed hard and played hard, 

chasing each other through the numerous bounce-house-contraptions at the indoor playland.  

{and, goodness, i am not as young as i used to be!}

one of those afternoons that makes you want to stop time for a moment

and just relish in the sweetness of your children.

-----

there's an article that my mom-friends have been circulating recently.

i agree, to an extent.

i do.

when those sweet grandmotherly figures smile at my frazzled self and my mis-matched toddler with pigtails askew who may or may not have shoes, socks, or undewear on,

and then proceeds to tell me how blessed i am and to enjoy every second,

i smile kindly at her,

but kinda roll my eyes and shake my head 

while feeding the toddler her 47th m&m of the morning 

just to get through the check out.

so, i get it. I know that every moment of every day 

{or every week, or every month}

is not going to be those stop-in-time-moments where you bask in your child's sweetness.

but when that grandmotherly figure stops you in Target and tells you to seize the day because they're gone so fast

you know what I really think they're saying?

I think they're saying that in those in-between-moments -

in those every-day life moments of wiping up cheerios from the floor,

doing the eighteenth load of laundry for the day and having it sit in the washer so long you have to re-run the load,

cleaning up the fourth bathroom accident and giving the third bath for the day -

in those moments

be less frustrated. less irritated. yell less - well, really, stop yelling at all.

handle all of those in-between-moments with more grace and kindness - the way you'd like someone to handle those moments of your life when you've made a mess of some relationship and are trying to clean it up.

the grandmotherly figure is really saying to

stop getting on your child for doing childish things.

clean up the third cup of spilled milk with out yelling about it.

linger over books at bedtime and give into those one-more-hug bedtime requests.

stop telling your child to hurry up even if you have no reason to hurry.

smile more. love more. hug more. rock more. cuddle more.

that's what I think she's saying.

because those stop-the-time moments are few and far between, 

and it's the every-day moments that make up life.

so, yes, *I* am seizing the day.

carpe diem, bring it on.

even if the day brings more bathroom accidents and sibling fighting than anticipated,

i'm seizing it.

doing my best to handle those moments with grace, wisdom, and kindness.

because these moments?

they'll be gone far too soon,

and i know that when i'm not tripping over legos in the middle of the night,

i'll miss it.

carpe diem, mommy-friends, carpe diem.

--

grace abigail, 2.5, in her ever-present slightly-askew state.