Have you ever had a moment in your life when you couldn’t wait to move to the next stage in your life? A new job; a summer holiday; the next year; or even the next day. Life would be so much better, easier, and prettier once the next thing rolls around, right? The grass is always greener on the other side and we’re often in a rush to cross over.
It is easy to think that the next phase in our life is more enjoyable
I wish my baby would start talking so we could have a normal conversation and I wouldn’t have to guess what the screaming is about this time. I wish spring would come around already so we could be done with stomping through this snow. I wish this corona craziness would be over so we could go back to our normal lives etc.
Life is not wishing well, even though we treat it like one sometimes. There is a significant downside to constantly wanting to take the next step in your life – you forget to enjoy the moment you’re in right now. However, I have to admit that I am guilty of doing just that from time to time.
I recently finished reading I Tried Everything by Isabelle Filliozat which is about handling the demands and tantrums of one to five-year-olds. There is no shortage of complaints and general fussiness in our household. My kids dish out complaints like Oprah gives away cars…mom gets a complaint, dad gets a complaint, EVERYBODY GETS A COMPLAINT!!! Only there are no tears of joy by the end of it. If my kids were customers somewhere I’d feel sorry for the customer service because they are impossible to satisfy.
If you think the reason I picked up the book is because I feel like my head is about to explode 37 times a day then winner winner, chicken dinner 😀 you’d be absolutely right. It’s a great book and I wholeheartedly recommend it. It felt like the writer was describing what happens in our house to a tee. It’s like she was a fly on the wall or had sneaked in cameras. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I’d say they have a secret deal with the security company. The English might be right…the French cannot be trusted 😀
What actually waits at the end of the craziness tunnel
The book gave me a lot of ideas but the best one came in the end where there was a comic strip summing up the entire book and I’ll share it with you here.
We cannot wait for babies to shoot out of us by the end of the pregnancy but when they’re here we are faced with a new challenge. I guess they forgot to teach them in baby school that nights are for sleeping and NOT for testing your lung capacity by screaming until you’re red in the face. We cannot wait until they sleep through the night.
Then they start crawling followed by walking and suddenly everything we own is at risk. Expensive trinkets, plants, and pets are all in danger not to mention the children themselves. There is not enough bubble wrap in the world to keep everything safe. We cannot wait to drop them off at kindergarten so the house police could take a breather.
Finally, they’re in kindergarten but we cannot wait for them to dress and get to kindergarten on their own at the correct time. All of a sudden they’re teenagers. Sure, they can now dress (even though their fashion choices are up for debate) but why and how have they acquired such a bad taste in music and why do they need to listen to it on full blast? I wish they’d move out into their own space so we could have some peace and quiet.
Finally, the house is quiet. The teenager’s room is clean and empty but there is also an emptiness that settles in the parents’ chest. How did the time go by so fast? All we can do now is wait and demand grandchildren because kids are sooooo cute. We’re constantly waiting and wishing for something but as soon as we get it, we cannot wait for the next step.
Find beauty in the NOW instead of constantly looking forward to the next best thing.
Kids know how to enjoy the moment
Again, I learned a valuable lesson from my children. My son had the hardest time understanding why mom demands the playroom to be cleaned up before dinner. What’s the point? They’re going to be playing with every single toy they own at all times. However, he realized that mom’s not going to let this thing go so he accepted his fate and started cleaning the room.
He started picking up toys and hummed as he did it. After a while, he came to me announcing that cleaning is so relaxing and in fact, it is the most relaxing activity in the whole world. Is he really my kid? 😀 Instead of impatiently waiting for the room to get clean, he learned to enjoy the activity of cleaning it.
Later on, we sat down to color in his coloring book and he said ‘Now this is the life. What could be better than drawing and coloring?’ I have to admit that my mind had already wandered to what to make for dinner; what tomorrow’s schedule is like; and if I manage to wash another load of laundry.
My little mentor reminded me to enjoy the moment. I mean really, what could be better than spending time with your awesome children. Before I know it, they’ll be teenagers and home will become more of a Bed & Breakfast with a laundry service than a place where they spend quality time with their parents.
We should learn to find beauty in the NOW instead of constantly looking forward to what we think is the next best thing. The grass isn’t greener on the other side. It’s greener where you water it. No matter how crazy or annoying a situation seems, we will probably look back on it one day and say ‘Those were good times’. Let me know in the comments what are things you are waiting for and how could you enjoy the present instead!
With love,
Annika
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