As a single parent the “to do” lists are ever growing. You’re taking on the responsibility of two people. Your time is limited between running the kids to soccer practice, music lessons, birthday parties, and dance recitals. Not to mention the laundry, the cooking, the cleaning, the ironing, the vacuuming, and the countless other items that pile up on a daily basis. You are working and, or going to school; you hardly have time to brush your teeth in the mornings, let alone find the time to make dinner when you get home. So what do you do when you hear those words, “Mommy, can you play with me?” It’s simple, you play. Nothing is more important than taking time out of your day to just simply play with your child.
I was reminded of this early this afternoon. I had been running around trying to complete each of the tasks on my “to do” list as usual. Logan was watching one of his favorite Christmas shows, when I heard those very words, “Mommy, can you play with me?” I had a million other things to do. The floor needed to be vacuumed, the laundry needed to be folded, dishes needed to be done, and I needed to run to the post office to drop off a package that needed to be sent right away. I chose to get down and race fire trucks instead. We laughed and played together all afternoon. We sang songs and danced around in circles.
I still have a million things left on my “to do” list. No matter how much you do, there is always more to be done, but your children are only small for a short while. Get down on the floor and play with them, the laundry will always be there tomorrow. Before you know it, they’ll be all grown up, and the days of racing fire trucks and cuddling by the fire will be long gone. Enjoy every second, it goes by far too fast.