Time for Change?

Changing seasons always feel a little nostalgic to me. Summer is on its way into fall and the beaches, the sand, the picnics, and outdoor fun are ending in what seems like a minute. Fall makes its appearance in shades of orange, yellow, and brown. It nudges summer out of the way with smells of burning leaves, fire pits and crisp air.

You know this change is coming, but it still always feels like it’s overnight. It’s like life; you can look forward to an event, like a wedding, and it’s so far away…and then it’s over! It’s also like a stage in life; you wait and wait for your child to walk and then it’s happened and it’s like they’ve walked forever! You wait for your graduation and then Boom! You’re working and into the next phase of life.

These seasonal changes are affecting me differently as I age. The seasons are coming faster and the next one is right around the corner. I am trying to think of what’s most important to me that I want to accomplish. I’m putting more thought into what will make me happy. I’m trying to be more conscious of my time and do what I value the most. Throughout our lives, there are so many things that we must do that is seems that we rarely get to make a conscious decision of what we want to do.

Now and then it’s a good idea to sit down and look at what we’re doing and where we want to go and who we want to be. How do we get there? What priorities should we have in place and what do we have to do to make those things happen?

As we wind down from summer into fall, and then winter, I think it’s a great time to take stock of where we are and where we want to be for a while. Do what you have to, sure, but try to also do what’s important to you and what makes you happy!

Kids, like our seasons, change too fast!

enjoy the season
enjoy the season

Children, like seasons, should be enjoyed in the moment.  Isn’t it funny how fast time seems to go by?  With kids, it seems like we just keep waiting for them to do the next thing, like going from a baby to a toddler, from playing in the park to playing in the schoolyard.  The seasons seem to follow this same pattern.  We keep waiting for the next holiday season to roll around before we’ve even enjoyed this one! I refuse to be pulled into this.   I want to enjoy each stage and each season while I’m in it.

I just now saw a commercial on TV for Christmas tree lights!  It’s still September, right?  We have the two major holidays of Halloween and Thanksgiving before Christmas rolls around.  I absolutely love the fall season and I am going to continue to enjoy it without thinking about Christmas.  In fact, I’m not even thinking about Halloween or Thanksgiving yet.  I’m going to enjoy the colors, the smells, and the beautiful changes of this season while it’s here, without thinking about the next three holidays coming up.  I’m almost ready to include Halloween and, in fact, I bought candy yesterday but that’s mostly so that I can eat it myself over the next 4 ½ weeks.

Similarly, when you have a baby and you’re sitting in the dark silence of the night, you’re waiting for the time when he sleeps through the night.  Once that happens, you’re waiting for him to crawl, then to walk.  Stop, though, and take a moment to enjoy each one of those stages of his life.  It doesn’t seem like this middle of the night crying or exhaustion would leave much for you to appreciate, but you will never be that close to your baby again.  It’s just you and him.  Nothing else in the world matters but that.  Enjoy that time.  Very soon, you will be just a part of their world, not their entire world.  Hug him, love him, and appreciate those quiet (and loud) moments between just the two of you.  Keep doing that through every single stage.  Enjoy each and every season of his life for what it is.

To me, it seems like these three holidays coming up are a lot like children going from your arms to going to school; it seems like it happens so quickly!  Take the time to appreciate each and every step.  Try not to rush it along or let it pass you by while you wait for the next milestone.  I liken the long, cold, dark stretch of winter between Christmas and Memorial Day to the adolescent stage of kids.  If any of you have had teens, I think you’ll know why.  That time seems like it will never end!  Have faith; just like the seasons this, too, will pass and continue on as it has forever.  Try not to rush it along; work to create some of those moments that you will want to remember for years to come.  This season is just as important, if not more so, than any other.  Celebrate it with them and enjoy the moments because this season, too, will pass.

Wring it Out!

summer
summer

So yesterday I saw a couple of orange and yellow leaves in my yard.  For those of us living in the Midwest, you know what that means.  Fall will be here in the blink of an eye, quickly followed by the onset of the holiday season.  As a friend of mine told me the other day, it’s just 18 short weekends away.

This is actually good news.  We still have time to fit in all the things we said we wanted to do this summer! Take a few minutes today to plan out the next several weekends to make sure you wring out every last drop of summer fun!