Yesterday afternoon I picked up my daughter from school and informed her that her babysitter would be coming over in a couple of hours so we needed to do her homework right away. She was thrilled! She said, “She is the best girl in the whole world.”
My son had been exclaiming how he couldn’t wait to show her his new toy all day long.
My husband was thrilled because he was going to have his wife for a few hours all to himself.
Me? I was exhausted from cleaning the house all day long in preparation for the big babysitting event.
It all seemed worth it though when I saw how the kids excitedly ran outside as their babysitter’s mom drove up the driveway to drop her off. And my husband sprang from the bedroom dressed in his nice jeans and polo shirt with a huge smile on his face.
We didn’t do anything special at all. We went out to dinner and then shopping at a couple of stores…hand in hand. Something we can’t usually do since one of the kids is pulling us in one or two directions constantly on normal shopping trips.
It always feels different to walk around without the whiplash of searching for where the kids have run off to. It reminds me of those times when it was just me and my husband with nothing to do but browse the aisles.
We made a realization last night. While it’s nice to get away from the house by ourselves from time to time to reconnect, we would never change what we have for the world. Our children are what makes our life complete. Walking hand in hand in the stores without the hustle and bustle of boisterous children around us is just not the same… we prefer the craziness.
Being able to take a step back to realize what we have in our life can do a lot for us as a parent. It can help us appreciate what we have and take advantage of it. Children grow up way too fast and being able to savor them will mean the world to us someday. You know, that someday when we walk through the stores hand in hand with our husband knowing our children are all grown up and just aren’t going to be pulling us anymore…
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