Being Present

I have never been a fan of making resolutions for the New Year.  For whatever reason, it seems as though “resolutions” are more difficult to keep than goals.  And I do not think it is just me that has difficulties; just ask anyone who purchased a gym membership this past January 1^st to see if they are still making it to their exercise class on the regular! 😉

A goal that I set for myself this year was to be present in the moment for those that are important in my life.  As many moms can attest, I feel that I need to be willing and able to multitask most of my waking hours. Part of this is my own fault for putting this type of pressure on myself and I made a commitment to worry less about getting everything done and concern myself more with appreciating the moment.  I have fallen prey to snapping a million photos of my kids while we are out enjoying ourselves.  Some of these I post on my social media pages, others I keep for myself to look back and remember the fun times we had while they were certain ages and still young enough to want to hang out with me.  However, I do not want to only have photos of good times, but want to actually enjoy myself by being present for my kids while making those memories. 

This past Saturday I took the older boys to lunch and to see the new Lego movie.  As ridiculous as it may sound, I needed to remind myself that I was not to take my phone out while we were enjoying our day, unless it was to either check the time or if there was a photo opportunity that I really did not want to miss.  Otherwise, it was to stay put in my purse and I would focus on this precious time spent with just two of my boys. 

During lunch we talked about school, friends, gangster movies (don’t judge, we were eating lunch at a place called “Mobtown Pizza”…I said, don’t judge!), where we wanted to go on our next vacation, and our favorite ice cream.  Instead of doing a quick check of my email or peeking at Facebook which most likely would not have added any value to the moment I was actually in, I was able to really focus on my boys.  During lunch I learned that Finn does not want to get married when he is older and that Tate has already picked out his forever mate!

Finn: “Mommy, do I have to get married when I am older?”
Me: “No, you do not have to get married, but you may want to one day.”
Finn: “No way, I don’t want to get married.  Ever.”
Me: “Why do you feel that way?”
Finn: “Because it’s gross.”
Me: “That is a bit dramatic.  Tate, do you think you want to get married when you are older?”
Tate: “Yep! I’m going to marry you!”

After lunch we had some time to kill before the movie started and I found a shady bench to sit on while the two of them ran off some of that endless energy that only kids have and do not seem to appreciate.  The weather was warm enough to be a summer day and I could see their cheeks getting rosier by the second.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching my boys run up and down a hill screeching with joy while trying to tag one another and graciously accepted little yellow flowers they had picked just for me without once thinking I was missing out on something new in my circle of cyber acquaintances. I did snap this one photo really quickly so I could capture that sweet moment on our date and in looking at it now I can almost hear their giggles that I am so thankful I made myself stop and truly appreciate.

Life is busy and I am sure I will lose my momentum with this goal at some point, but I am committed to being present for those people who are important in my life. I’m not giving up multitasking and as a mom to three little ones that is basically survival at this point. Not to mention that I still have to find the time to plan my wedding to Tate! 🙂