Little Things

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things. ~ Robert Brault

This is the place I want to live. These are the things I want to focus on during the day. Life really is only a breath and I don't want it to slip past me while I am trying to check things off my to do list.

I am thinking that in thirty years I won't remember not being able to hear myself think for the sound of the piano, but I will remember the beautiful songs played all day and the students who benefited from her passion to play.

I imagine that several years from now I won't think so much about how annoying it was that he threw everything and anything that resembled a sphere, but I will remember all those weekends at the ball field and the trips and memories that went with them.

In the not so distant future, I won't think so much about Play Mobile and army men scattered all over the floor, but I'll miss the imagination of a little boy who grows up much too fast.

Some day I will crawl into my bed and sleep the entire night all by myself and, oddly enough, I will long to hear the pitter patter of little feet on the way to slip under the covers and snuggle with me.

There is always one child who wants to get up and talk before I finish my coffee, always a little one who wants to be in my lap no matter what I am doing, a teenager who wants to talk late at night when I just want to sleep, and another who is constantly moving, drumming, throwing and always wants something to eat. These are the little things in my life. These are the things that make me feel crazy and completely overstimulated by the end of the day. These are the things I will miss the most as soon as they are gone.

So today I will try again to really live in these moments, to see all these interruptions as opportunities to snuggle, engage in meaningful conversation, see the world through their eyes instead of mine. Today I will recognize that sleep is overrated and it's much more fun to stay up late talking to a teenager. Today I will relish in the music - the pounding of drums, the melody of the piano, even guitar hero. And tonight when I hear the pitter patter of little feet, I'll smile and pull back the covers to invite this small invader of my sleep.

Much faster than I am willing to admit, the little things will fade and the kids will grow up. The constant interruptions will slow, my house will be clean, and I will have quiet times to write. But for now, I will try a little harder to embrace all those little things that seem like a pain at the moment, but really are the heart beat of raising a family.