When was the last time you paid attention to your children? The last time you really listened to what they had to say, instead of just nodding in agreement so they’d leave you alone?
When was the last time you stopped what you were doing—and yes, even what you were thinking—to cherish this moment with them, including the sound of their giggles, the look of innocence and wonder in their eyes, and the feel of their skin against yours as they hugged you tight?
Often, we are distracted by adulthood and we fail to cherish these beautiful moments with our children. We fail to really be present or in the moment, and our children know this.
Our children know when we absentmindedly answer their questions because our thoughts are preoccupied with something we deem much more important. But what really is more important than this? What is more precious than the memories you are making with your children?
Before you know it, he’ll be graduating college or she’ll be walking down the aisle and driving off to a life without you. Before you know it, he’ll be ignoring your calls and skipping the chance to spend holidays with you. And you’ll be sitting there alone in the house, on the same couch, wishing you could spend just another day with them, wishing you had cherished those moments when they needed you, when you were the centre of their world, when your attention meant everything to them.
You will miss the endless questions about dinosaurs and ponies. You will miss the noise, their giggles, the mess and their antics. You will miss these moments. You will miss them.
They won’t be at home drawing doodles on the walls forever. They won’t be home demanding your attention forever. They won’t be as clingy, and they won’t need you like this forever, because they will never be little forever.
Make more memories
In the grand scheme of things, nothing is really as important as this, this moment right here with the most important little human beings in your life.
And when we leave them someday, when it’s time for us to go, no inheritance will be as precious as the memories we’ve left behind, because this is how we live in their hearts long after we’re gone. These memories are what they will hold on to when we’re gone.
So make more memories that they can invest in their memory banks. Enjoy this moment with them, right now. Cherish it. Savour the sound of their voice, the feel of their skin against yours and the smell of their hair as they ask for a hug for the tenth time.
Take a mental picture of the look on their face as they share their day with you, as they pour their heart to you. You are the center of their world right now, the most important human being alive.
Make the most of this time with them now, make the most of their love. Sit on the floor and let them wiggle beside you. Listen to their thoughts and what they have to say without judgment.
You’ll be amused by the way they see the world, because to them, life—sans the bills, the titles, the anxieties, the pressures to succeed—is really simple. All they want is you, the present you, the engaged you, the you who will be there for them when life hits them hard. You mean the world to them and you are their safe place.
Amid our frenzied daily life—the mounting bills to pay, the pressure to make something of ourselves, and the harsh realties of adulthood—it’s easy to miss what’s truly important. It’s easy to forget to pay attention to our children, to what they really need and what they have to say.
We get distracted by a million other things, when all our children want is 15 minutes of our undivided attention, uninterrupted by a phone call or an email and everything else outside. All they want is to share a memory with you, right here, right now. And we need to pay attention to these fleeting moments, because they will never come again.
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