780 Saturdays Left

I am busy. I have a three year old and a hubby. I work. I am in the midst of a major renovation on my home. I volunteer. I sit on boards. And, I have a list of things to do that I can never get a handle on. I have a lot going on like all moms do.

I find myself going through tasks in a somewhat robotic state. The week days look the same. Drop off at school, run to work. Knock out as much work as I can. Pick up from school. Change in the car. Head to dancing. Leave da780 Saturdaysncing. Figure out something for dinner. Get my daughter in the tub. Get her hair combed, teeth brushed, bedtime story and lights out. I read her updates from school, fill out whatever forms are in her folder, throw laundry in the wash machine, check email, watch something DVRed on Bravo as my guilty pleasure, shower and then re-pack lunches and bags for the next day. I am exhausted, and I crash as well. That stupid alarm clock will ring again in a few hours.

Add in whatever the variety of the week is – swimming lessons, someone’s birthday or whatever other place we need to be – and life is hectic. It always seems to be like that.

The weekends are a crazy combination of running from the grocery over to Target, to the cleaners, to birthday parties, to church, to family functions and whatever else my calendar tells me to do. I get excited when we walk out of the house for a birthday party and I have actually pre-purchased the present and have the invite with the address in my hands. I feel totally organized in that one second. My goal for each item on my calendar is to run as fast as I can from point A to point B and hopefully look calm and collected when I arrive.

Does this story sound familiar?

Yes, I love a routine and I know as parents we thrive on routines. Of course we do fun things as a family but hearing about things that parents do with their kids I find myself wondering: when do they have time to do that?!

But someone told me just a couple of weeks ago that there are only 940 Saturdays from when a child is born until they are 18. HELLO, that is scary! My child is already three! So that means that I only have around 780 Saturdays left with my daughter. Well, probably much less than that before I turn totally uncool to be around and she only wants to hang with her friends.

I realized that she is not going remember what was home cooked for dinner that night or if she had an empty laundry basket in her bedroom. She is going to remember the memories that were created on those Saturdays.

This number was so shocking to me. So when I saw that statistic, I told myself “to hell with the To Do list and the calendar!” My daughter and I played hookie from life and spent the entire Saturday doing … nothing. But it was everything!

We fed the ducks, we played on the playground, she rode her bike, colored, painted, made cookies and watched movies. It was whatever she wanted to do. Because I realized that I was getting so bogged down in getting things done and keeping the household running that I was missing it. I was missing her being little because I forgot to stop and smell the roses.

I was not going to shuffle her from errand to errand and put her in her car seat and take her out 20 times a day as we ran around town. We were going to quit all of that and just be together. It was the best day, and I really enjoyed it. It was a great way to recharge the batteries, refocus my priorities and make the commitment that I need to focus my energy in the right places.

So each day I make more of a conscious effort to eliminate the errands and skip the laundry for the playground. Since it is not New Year’s I can’t make it my New Year’s resolution, but I can make this my mom resolution. I am going to treasure those 780 Saturdays and all of the days in between them!

2 COMMENTS

  1. Darn it Linzy…you got me teary at my desk!!! This one hit home hard. I think we’re going to make this Saturday an all fun day!! It’s hard but this had been really nagging at me lately. So this past Sunday instead of doing chores and running to the grocery while they napped I cuddled up and napped with them because those opportunities are not going to last much longer!!! Thanks for sharing and I wish you many more fun filled Saturdays!

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