I’m boycotting Walmart. And Target, Shopko, Walgreens, Toys R Us, plus that aisle in the grocery store that stocks the crayons. Not forever—just until August. Why? Because last week, I went shopping for half-price sparklers and found the shelves packed with school supplies.
Back to school sales? Already? Please, let my kids have their summer! Let me have this summer—with my kids.
It’s a kindergarten thing, see. In less than two months, my firstborn starts full-day school, and I’m having heart palpitations just thinking about it. I want to hold her ransom, splashing through the sprinkler and slurping popsicles like tomorrow will never come.
I didn’t always feel this way. There was a time when I wished ahead, longed for my girls to grow, to get past a rough stage, to sleep—oh glorious sleep! I reached toward the promise of easier days, and in so doing, I missed living the day I was given.
“This is the day the LORD has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it,” (Psalm 118:24).
Do you ever add words to that verse? Sure, Lord, I’ll rejoice and be glad—as soon as the baby is sleeping through the night.
After those teeth poke through.
When she can hold her own spoon.
Once tantrums are a thing of the past.
Then soon enough, they are. But so are five years of beautiful childhood, which I’ll never get back. I want to learn the art of living in the moment before it’s too late. Before my girls wave goodbye from a college parking lot—at their sappy mother whose heart will burst into a sobbing mess as soon as our empty minivan turns the corner.
This is the day the Lord has made—yes, even this one. So I will rejoice and be glad in it.
All of it.
The laughter and the tantrums, the stinky diapers and the bubble baths, the bickering and blanket fort camping in the playroom.
I’m done wishing my life away. Let me have my summer, store people. Your pencils and glue sticks can wait. This family is still on popsicle time.
If this post encouraged you, please pass it on. You might also like Birthday Musings From a Sappy Mom, Taste of Candy Land, Don’t Lie to Me, and On Dreams, Contentment and Spaghetti.
Linking up with: The Better Mom, Titus 2sdays, Domestically Divine Tuesday, Living Well Wednesdays, Things I Can’t Say, Grace at Home, Proverbs 31 Thursdays, and Faithfully Parenting Fridays.
Amen!!!!!
I couldn’t agree more! And yes, I too want to learn to live in the moment before it is too late. Where can I find some sprinklers to run through? We’re doing it! 🙂
Sprinkler party at the Kopitzke house! Who’s in? 🙂
Thank you, Becky, for putting a fresh slant on this verse and for the reminder that these years with little ones are fleeting and we should savor precious moment – both up and down.
Thank you, Laura – so fun to see you here!
I’m so glad to have discovered your wonderful blog! I tweeted about it to all my followers. Hope some of them pop on over.
Yay, thank you! I subscribed to your blog earlier today, too!
Wow, I’m so guilty of this. Thanks for the reminder. 🙂 Lauren, lholmes79.wordpress.com
This is awesome. Not only do I love your fun writing style, but your words are true. I haven’t gotten a full nights’ sleep in about 12 years. My youngest is a toddler, and I’m making sure that I treasure and enjoy these little kid days. I don’t want to idolize them, but neither do I wish to miss them. As hard as they are, they are precious.
They are, indeed, Stephanie. Some days it’s harder to remind ourselves… but they are precious, I agree. We are in the sleep-deprived boat together.
Love this post! I too have been convicted to live in the moment. I see your bright, smily face on many of the same link-ups I visit, and decided to follow along with you. Be blessed! Ashley
http://www.agratefulheart-ashley.blogspot.com
Thank you, Ashley! Welcome!
Great reminder! Thanks!
Missy @ http://gracefullittlehoneybee.blogspot.com
Oh my goodness…this touches my heart so deeply.
My oldest starts high school this year…and my youngest starts kindergarten. I’ve wished so many moments away. *sigh*
Thank you for this wonderful reminder.
Love it Becky! I’ll need you to remind me of this lesson if one day the Lord blesses me with children. Sleep is already so precious to me. Lol
I will be among the first of your fellow moms to shower you with support and encouragement, Monica! Sleep is precious and yet, somehow, dispensable. 🙂
YES! YES! YES! I was thinking this exact same thing at WalMart the other day. It already seems that time flies with my boys and I so want to stay in the present with them. Fantastic post!
Love this post. Favorite line: “Your pencils and glue sticks can wait. This family is still on popsicle time.” 🙂 I still have one year to go before my oldest starts kindergarten and this reminds me to ENJOY IT.
Stopping by from WLW and you have a new follower. Love your blog 🙂
Amanda @ http://www.the-cadence.com
Welcome, Amanda! Thanks for popping over from WLW!
This is a wonderful post. I feel the same way about my babies. Except my 17 year old will be heading off to college in a year, then the waterworks will really start! We must treasure every moment God gives us.
Blessings~
Shari
Oh my goodness, college. I can spring tears just imagining the day my little ones leave for college, isn’t that silly? They’re 5 and 2! But as soon as my head drifts ahead like that, two second later my girls start screaming over who had the toy first, and I have to laugh at how God pulls me back into the moment. Well, okay, I don’t really laugh. But I should. 🙂
Oh yes, you spoke the words on my heart! Living in the moment with my kids is a daily battle. Thanks for this!
I say “amen” to this, too! It is a gift when you recognize to enjoy the “now’. Thank you!
I agree so much! Opening our eyes to see the gifts of today is so important! (and also, “letting” them go to kindergarten is SO hard!!!)
Emily (friend of Michy’s)
http://www.weakandloved.com
Thanks for linking….you have become one of my all time fav bloggers, and I need to get your posts by email too so I don’t miss them in the fb craze :)….
I tend to focus ahead, and need, need, need to enjoy that moment…one of my fav quotes I try to focus on…
Blessings!!!
🙂 Michy
Wow, Michy, thanks for such encouraging words! You and I can remind each other to stay in the moment. Blessings to you, too!
Oh my goodness, I love this post and couldn’t agree with you more. I have one leaving for college in August and one that will start kindergarten next year. I will soak up this time now.
Amen – I have been having thereverse wishing problem – that O could have learned this lesson 10 years ago.
Blessings!
That is the word I need to hear everyday. I have to enjoy every minute of my life or else I am going to live for tomorrow and not for today. Thanks for this lovely post. Dropping by from WLWW.
Thanks for visiting from WLWW!
This is oh so true. I wished away the first six weeks of my son’s life. Then when he hit the teething tantruming stage, I wished that away. Now I am looking at my toddler and wishing to get my baby back. I hope I remember this when we have baby number two so I can appreciate all the moments of the first year.
I am a new follower here from the blog hop.
http://www.adventuresofcaptaindestructo.com
Welcome, Melissa! I just checked out your post on cleaning bath toys – so useful, thank you!
What a great post. And yes!!! We need to stop wishing our lives away!!!! so true!
Ahhh, just what I needed: a refreshing and bracing run through the sprinklers to take this life one grateful day at a time.
Thanks for sharing your popsicle thoughts with us today-they are just wonderfully yummy!
I remember wishing the days would go faster. My older two are in full day school and my youngest starts 5 days this fall(half days) and for a while, I was thinking I might move him down to just 3 days.
I noticed the school supplies too and I’m not ready for it! Even though it’s easier for me to work when my kids are in school, I’m enjoying the summer too much to want it to end!
Another great post! May you continue in this way. I’m so glad for you that you’ve discovered this truth while your girls are still small!
Why do we do this kind of thing? Even when our children are wonderful and life is good, it’s so easy to wish it all away, or different, or whatever. I’m in the midst of popsicle days and won’t be shopping for school supplies for a couple more years. I miss the change of pace that autumn brought for so many years (in another life, I taught high school–and then came marriage, multiple moves, and little people who call me “mom”). Thanks for the reminder.