Be Still

I have been thinking about blogging quite a bit lately. I think the reason that I don't write as much as I'd like to anymore is because it's so much work to transfer and organize my pictures to the computer these days. I've fallen so far behind and so I just keep putting it off. I spent a lot of time yesterday putting photos on my computer so that I could catch up on this dear blog of mine. I love writing and recording what we get up to each day. If it wasn't for the blog I think I would forget some of the cute things the children have done at different stages. One of my goals over this next little while is to start writing daily again (and do a ton of back posting). There's something to be said for putting thoughts into words and recording those emotions and feelings each day. It's good for the soul.

Today as I sat down to write, Sawyer toddled into the kitchen and tugged on my sweater, demanding my attention. I scooped him up on my lap and his body melted into mine as he leaned back to watch what I was doing. He lifted up his little hand and pulled my face close to his. I squeezed him in a hug as I touched my nose to his and smooched his chubby cheeks. He started running his fingers through my hair and then grabbed my hand and put it on his forehead. I rubbed his hair back and traced around his eyes with my index finger. He began to breath deeply and his body grew limp. He never did end up falling asleep, but he was content to just sit and enjoy the moment. These are the moments I cherish. I would much rather snuggle and play with my kids than run errands or clean my house. It's so important to take time to be still and drink them in at every stage.  They deserve my full attention and I want them to feel like they are important. When I slow down and look into their faces, take time to hug and snuggle, and really listen to what's going on in their lives, they are more content and get along better. I feel so blessed to be able to stay home and enjoy the little things each day!

I read an instagram post the other day from a mom who was comparing life when her Grandma was raising children to life as a mom now. She spoke of how hard we have it now as moms and how difficult the pressure is to put your kids into everything and keep up with the demands and obligations of motherhood. She talked about how easy it is to compare ourselves to other moms because of social media and how we wrestle with feelings of guilt and not being good enough. She said she loved listening to her Grandma talk about how the kids used to play in the neighborhood together each day while the mothers were able to chat or help each other with laundry and house work. There was less judging, and more sense of community. Their one outing a week would be to the local church for a playgroup. The online community we have now is unique and wonderful for different reasons, but sometimes I think I would like to live "back then" when life was a little bit more simple and the outside demands were perhaps a little bit less. Where it was easier to focus on our families, and teaching our children values instead of running them from one activity to the next.

I'm not really sure where I am going with this. Just a few thoughts that have been on my mind lately as I've been contemplating the time I spend on social media and whether or not its beneficial to me personally. It's so important to be present and take time from our busy lives to show our love to those we care about most.  Our children can tell when we are distracted or checking our phones as they talk to us. I've been thinking about the kind of message I'm sending my kids each day and how I can show them that they are the most important thing in the world to me.