Be Present for Your Kids

You will notice that in the title of this post I did not say be there for your kids, I said be present for your kids.  I think that we are all  there for our kids when they need us but are we truly present for them? 

     I think one of the greatest challenges that I face as a Mother is that of always being distracted.  The world we live in now is fast pace.  There is always something that can grab my attention, something that needs to be done, and even more often, something that I choose to do that seems more interesting at the time i.e. talking on the phone, checking my email, texting, blogging, facebook, etc.  When we get tired of the monotony of every day life as a Mother there are a hundred things that we can escape to because of the wonders of modern technology. 

     Unfortunately, I think that we are being robbed.  It is easy to see that our children are being robbed but you know what, so are we!  I know that my children need me to care for their every need but sometime I think I overlook the simple fact that I NEED THEM.  I need their innocence, I need their unconditional love and acceptance, I need their perspective as they discover things for the first time, I need their sweet words and their little spirits to remind me of what is important and what is trivial.  I need to take the time to laugh with them, read to them, hug them, kiss them, tickle them, and PLAY with them not only because they need it but because they are a part of me, and when I give to them, I am giving to myself.  

      As I was pushing my babies on the swings, and reading stories in the grass, I realized that the simplicity is for me just as much as it is for them.  There is one God given ability that women have that can be our greatest salvation or our great demise; that is the ability that we have to multitask. I think that we get in the habit of always doing at lease two things at once and we lose the ability to simply focus on one thing, our child.   There are times when we can fold laundry and have a meaningful conversation with our daughter, or read out spelling words while we cook dinner, but there are other times when we need to be fully present and not distracted by any other task. 

Simply pushing my kids on the swing, feeling the sun on my skin and the breeze through my hair, hearing their laughter bouncing off the back of the house, suddenly I notice, I can breathe, and breathing keeps me alive.