A good friend told me she is working on strengthening one parenting skill every month. I found that pretty admirable. And while things often seem like sunshine and butterflies in this space, there are many parenting skills I could strengthen.
‘Many’ is probably not the right word… loads? Plenty? Let’s just stick with many; it has a sort of optimistic ring to it.
The skill I have been working on this month is to say, “Take your time,” whenever I would otherwise say, “Hurry up.”
Good grief, I say that a lot! And what, one might ask, am I hurrying for? We are almost always home, and I am quite organized when we head anywhere, so it is amazingly infrequent that we are actually in a hurry.
And yet I would say it all day long. While getting shoes on, “Hurry, hurry, please.”
While buckling in the car, “Would you like me to do it, or can you do it quickly?”
While strolling for a leisurely walk to nowhere and my little ones stop to gather stones, “Let’s keep going, guys!”
It is rather amazing what this simple change has done to our day. The boys are slower and calmer, and so am I. We are taking time to explore and investigate and play far more frequently.
And yes, things do take us longer, but why does it matter? So our ten-minute walk took thirty minutes—we had no plans, and we happened to see and play with snails along the way.
That moment, as it should happen, was Ben’s most favourite thing that happened all week long. And all it took was a little bit of time to explore some bugs while out on a walk.
Hmmm… are snails bugs? I’m thinking they are not… But I’m not sure what they are. Apparently, I have plenty of areas that could use some strengthening. Yes, plenty.
That’s okay; I will give myself time too.
Thank you for reading, friends; I hope you are enjoying your week!
xo
Sarah
P.S. I think you will love my FREE Plant & Animal Life Cycle Printable! You can teach your little one all about frogs, birds, flowers, bees, and the transformation of caterpillars to butterflies—a wonderful reminder of the beauty that comes from taking our time.
Thanks so much for your article on taking your time! It inspired me to do better at slowing down. I read every article you send:) thanks for taking the time to write.
~a mom who’s trying to learn~
Hi Lori – so glad you liked the post. And thank you for reading my articles! How old are you little ones?
-a mom who’s also learning- <3
Apparently this post is old, but I’ll not lie. It is STILL relatable. I JUST started WFH and I feel like I’m constantly rushing our littlest. Why? We ARE at home. I should take this time and treasure it and her. Our oldest ones say that constantly rushing them has given them anxiety as they age. Whelp….take your time it is. We’re trying to do things a lot different with Lilibet than we did the first 4 times around!! I have to say, HONESTLY I’m enjoying motherhood much more the 5th time around than I did the first 4. I was never present. I was constantly working. I was constantly worried. Now, I roll with the punches.
Love this perspective Kenya. Yes, I agree there are many benefits to being an “experienced mom” Whenever I am worrying that my littlest listens to my older children’s music instead of childhood classics, or I am not as energetic as I was with the older kids, I remind myself that she has the benefit of a Mama who is experienced and knows how fleeting this time is. xo