Do you ever find yourself just running at a breakneck speed? Unaware of the details of life because they blur by you? I have never been one to move too fast. As my mom says, she carried me until I was six(and she was expecting my little brother) just to get me from point A to point B faster. I cannot imagine her irritation at my slow pace in EVERYTHING! Then there was my brother, who moved fast and decidedly and with full on determination to what he needed or wanted to do. Then there was me. The Ferdinand of our family who stopped to smell the flowers and sit under the shade. I blissfully made creative messes that must have driven my mother batty. She still says she could never find a pair of scissors after I had used them. Life has a way of teaching you lessons. Now I have five kids, and they make messes and lose scissors and move slower than molasses in the winter. Sometimes I even find myself irritated by that. When you have to get 7 people out to a drs appt and really want them to all look presentable, it can be frustrating when one or three inevitably say,"I can't find my shoes!" Especially when each kid has a sweet shoe cubby organized by yours truly. They have a place darnit!!! It is your job to get them there!!!! Then I remember, look at life from their perspective just a bit. Remember what it is like to find wonder and awe in the weird bugs or beautiful flowers. Remember when you thought that fairies lived under the porch and the trees were doing ballet when the wind blew. Remember back to when you too thought that moss was the carpet for the fairies. Remember the amazement that came when you saw the wild things. Remember the marvel of the stars at night. Waking up to go out in the pick up to watch the meteor shower. Remember the fishing trips and never catching a thing but getting so wrapped up in the excitement of "what if the big one is next??" Remember the joy of watching for deer with dad up in the tree and falling asleep because you are not a morning person and you were too young for coffee. Life is about living. Remembering what brings you joy and DOING those things every day is what really living is all about. That is the fun of kids. They make you laugh, they make you wonder, they make you marvel. We laugh so hard over nothing at all. I hear one playing his guitar and sounding just like my brother at his age! It is painful to hear the same chords being murdered over and over... but now I can laugh and use earplugs. I know what he can become because I have watched my brother do it. I have one who is fascinated by the Beatles and reading 600 pg books. I have one who has wit that my gramma would have called affectionately "smart ass." His bright eyes and fast wit and ability to think outside the box keep me hopping. Then there are my girls. One who loves to sew and makes clothes for her dolls and bears and looks just like me at 8 when she concentrates with her toungue clamped between her tight lips. I giggle at her elaborate "fashion show" and am in awe. She has a knack and an artistic eye. My baby. Who is decidedly not a baby anymore... she is a dancer and a singer and even though her genes are not mine, she is so my daughter it brings tears to my eyes. As soon as she hears a beat she is moving. As soon as she can hear the first few notes she is humming along. She has an ear for pitch and harmonies even now at 5! It is just so much fun to see these magical, everyday, mundane moments. I have a plaque right over my desk that says, "Today is the day for making memories." Memories aren't always what you see in scrapbooks. Memories are who you ARE and why. Everyone's perspective is vastly different. (even of the SAME exact happening!!) I may have never ending laundry and chores and cleaning and dishes. But I have endless hugs and giggles and sweet snuggles. The jokes that we make that only we get,the dancing we hope that no one is watching, and the songs we sing and hope no one can hear those are the memories we are busy making. Don't forget to stop for a minute (or 50) and make a memory today!!
