Hurry Up and Wait a Second

"Hurry up". "Wait a second". I'm pretty sure those are my most used phrases with my kids. Ugh, anyone else feel the same? I'm either trying to get them to hurry up because we are late to somewhere. Or they are asking me for something and I'm busy, so I'm telling them to wait.

When did life start to feel so busy? I honestly can't remember. Was it just since having baby #4? Or is it just the way every adult feels these days?

From the minute I wake up it feels like I'm racing against the clock to get everything done. I'm trying to get half of us fed, dressed, and out the door by 7:30. Then I'm hurrying to get as much cleaning/errands/random house or kid stuff done while the boys are at school. Then once they are home it's an afternoon crazy zone of snacks/homework/sports/play/make dinner. In the evenings we begin the assembly line of dinner, baths, reading, and clean up....all while trying to get the kids in bed by a reasonable 8pm. And even if they are all in bed sound asleep and it's 9pm, I am still feeling rushed to hurry up and relax! because I know the baby will wake up any minute.

Now, I don't think you would notice from looking at me on the outside. But inside, my mind is constantly whirling, thinking about what needs to be done next. Any other Moms??

The other day I could tell Lucas just seemed "off". He was grumpy and kind of keeping to himself. So once Adam was home I went and sat with him for a solid 30 minutes, without any other kids around. We talked, read, played.....and his mood was drastically improved half an hour later. It felt so nice to just sit with him and not tell him "just a minute".

I've been trying to be more intentional with our time together as a family. I want our family time to feel as peaceful and unrushed as possible. (as much as you can accomplish that with little kids!) Dinnertime is really important to me, and I try to make it something we sit down together for almost every single night. One thing we have started to do is a family memory verse. We have a Bible verse written on our chalkboard and during the week we each try to memorize it, and then practice saying it at dinnertime.

We have also started doing "family reading time" in the evenings. Both older boys need to read for school, so I figured we could all try to do silent reading together as a family. The other night we each took our books out to the back deck and read for around 20-30 minutes. (Andrew looked at books and played). You guys....it was SO nice! I know it isn't something we will find time for every night, but I definitely want to do these types of things more often. It just felt so peaceful and unrushed.

Hey Mom, stop and smell the flowers, ok!?