I'm at an advantage having kids in two sets with a big gap in between. My teens don't want to play dolls or Hot Wheels any longer, which is bittersweet, but my littles still cherish their favorite toys so we have plenty of cars and doll clothes scattered around. The teen years are so enjoyable as we watch them grow and find new interests and it causes us to realize how short the years are reminding us to enjoy the littles at the stage they are in. Nothing else could be more important than playing board games as a family, or stopping what I'm doing to have yet another tea party with Emma. In reality it's better than cleaning the toilet, after all. God has been impressing a new idea on my heart over the years and I'm learning to listen more and more. What if we put more emphasis on relationships, especially focusing on our children, and stop focusing on outside distractions. What if we took time to look deeper, talk gentler, and live in the moments, letting them be little while the time is still at hand. What would our life, our family unit, our relationship with our children look like then?
I've said before that our decision to homeschool completely changed the way we relate to and even view our children. Over the years, however, I've been criticized for choosing to homeschool my kids and before I homeschooled I was criticized for being a stay at home mom. I've heard all the comments, the most popular being "When you're kids grow up maybe you will be able to do something with your life." The narrow-mindedness of people amazes me. I'm not sitting at home waiting for my kids to "finally" grow up so I can go out and do something important with my life. I'm not waiting around for my kids to "finally" grow up at all. I'm in the moment with them, enjoying their creativity, laughing at their antics and marveling at their independence and maturity. I'm learning more everyday to slow down, listen to Brody tell a joke or Emma sing and file those memories away in my heart so that when they fly from my nest one day I have no regrets only glorious memories.