August 30, 2024
We’ve all heard the phrase, “The days are long, but the years are short”, at some point in our parenting lives. That saying used to make me so mad, especially when my precious children were very, very young. The days were long. The nights were long. Nothing was easy and it all felt overwhelming. I could not exactly wrap my head around the idea that, given how long everything was and everything took, that “years” would fly by, because I just wanted in those moments for things to “get better”. Fast forward 11 years since having my first child, and now? Well, now I get it. I feel it – deep in my bones, how this time with my children has just sped past me in a blink of an eye.
Instagram told me last spring that 75% of our time spent with our children happens before they turn 12. 12?!! I straight up panicked. Anxiety filled me. Surely this cannot be true. Because I have a solid 11 with one child and almost 9 with the other, and it has gone by so fast that I can’t even remember what time I’ve spent with them. What have I done over the last 11 years? [Insert guilt. Panic. Unhelpful self-reflection]. Then I remembered that Instagram told me this statistic.
Go home, Instagram.
But seriously, the beginning of a school year always brings us back to this idea – time is going by so quickly. We all (me included) post these beautiful pictures on social media of our kiddo’s first days of school, and routinely include “#timeslowdown”. Please time, slow down. I post my kids first day of school pics, and then nostalgically and weepily scroll through my Facebook pics, reliving pictures from first days gone by. I get tangled up in my photos app, watching baby and toddler videos that feel like forever ago (because they are forever ago). I routinely tell old preschool stories about my kids to Soapstone parents and teachers, like they happened yesterday, when really they happened 5 or 6 or 7 years ago.
Time, slow down.
But aren’t there times, when we just wish the time would, well, speed up? Let’s be honest. 🙂 This summer may have gone by quickly, but how many of you wished the end of the summer away, because we just wanted the kids back in school? Ummm, this girl right here! What about those long sleepless nights or times of potty-training or tantrums that seemed to go on forever? There are times we spend with our children that we just want to speed up. And that’s okay, too. One day you are just wishing for your kiddo to be old enough to say what they need, to potty independently, or put their own shoes on, and then the next day? You can’t wait for them to be old enough to pack their own lunch for school or watch a non-animated show that you both like, or to stay home by themselves so you can go to Target or go for a run with just you, yourself, and you.
Time, speed up.
Time is a funny thing. It can be fast, it can be slow. Time can be a blessing and it can be cruel. But time with our children is always a gift, no matter how fast or slow it goes. As we begin these first days of school, no matter if we are Team #timeslowdown or Team #timespeedup – hold these moments close to your heart. Make memories. And in 10 years, talk about them like they just happened yesterday.
I’ll leave you with this verse from 2 Peter 3:8:
But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.
Until next time,
Jess
xoxo