Treasure Your Kids When They’re Little Because They Don’t Stay That Way for Long
With every passing breath, our kids are growing up and growing away from us. Before we know it, they’re moving out and starting their own families. If you’re thinking, “My child is an infant, I have a LONG way to go before that happens,” let me tell you, time flies faster than you can even imagine. That’s why it’s so important to treasure your kids when they’re little because they don’t stay that way for long.
Spend time with them, not just near them
I think we often confuse spending time near our kids with spending time with them. For example, we promise them a “Mommy and me” outing, so we take them to their favorite park. Then, we sit on our phones texting away while they play alone two feet from us. We go home and tell everyone what a wonderful day we had spending time with our kids.
Really listen when they talk to you
Your son is in the middle of telling you a loooooooong story about how his best bud Tommy found an 8-legged cricket, but it turned out to be a spider and, oh it wasn’t real, it was on his favorite show that by the way is getting canceled next month isn’t that so sad and…you get the run-on-sentence point. Meanwhile, you’re “uh-huh’ing” away and thinking about whether you remembered to add milk to your shopping list.
We’re all guilty of doing the zoned out, “uh-huh” thing, so don’t feel bad. However, if you really want to treasure your kids when they’re little, try tuning into those crazy long (and let’s be honest, not all that exciting to us) stories. See, buried beneath every long-winded tale is a wealth of information about how your child sees the world. Plus, one day when he’s off on his own, you’ll miss these daily “news” reports from him.
Celebrate small milestones
We have this tendency to measure our kids’ lives in major milestones. During the first year, we celebrate nearly every other day. First time he slept through the night, rolled over, laughed, ate solid food, took a step, took two steps in a row, ran! We fill out every line of every page in that first-year baby book. It’s magical!
Then, our kids hit their 1st birthday and it goes a little like this: First day of kindergarten, 10th birthday, 13th birthday, the first day of high school, 16th birthday, graduation, college graduation, marriage. No wonder it feels like our kids grow up so fast! If we just looked back at the milestones, we’ll have celebrated a grand total of like 8 days in our children’s lives.
Take family vacations
From making your kids smarter to helping everyone live longer, there are so many amazing benefits to family vacations. To me, though, getting to spend totally uninterrupted time with my family is the #1 benefit by far. If you can travel, absolutely do so. I’m not saying you have to spend a fortune for a week-long getaway somewhere exotic. I know that not everyone has the money for an actual vacation. Try a staycation in your hometown, or even just in your own home. It’s not about where you go, it’s about how you spend the time. As long as you’re spending it together, it counts!
Have weekly “unplugged” family date nights
If you can’t even take two days off in a row for a family staycation (many parents are working multiple jobs, so even a full weekend off is a luxury), make the most of whatever time you DO have to spend together by removing distractions. Pick one night a week (say, Friday nights) and make it an “unplugged together” night. Turn off and put away anything with a screen. That includes the TV! Then, break out the board games, crafting supplies, or other non-digital activities and spend the night just hanging out together as a family. It’s really amazing what you can learn about your kids when you clear out all of the distractions.
Just let them be kids
From exceedingly high expectations to overscheduled activities to massive chore charts that fill any leftover time, one of the biggest reasons that our kids’ childhoods go by so fast is because WE are making them grow up too fast. Kids today have very few opportunities to explore the world in a free and unstructured way. To make mistakes. To have big messy feelings. To laugh, play, and dream. To just BE.
Try to remember what it was like to be their age. Let them have their magic and wonder while they still can. More importantly, let them share that magic and wonder with you. Let them be kids, and enjoy every moment of it.