Slow the Circle Down

 

I'm always in a rush.

I'm always running late.

There is always something I need to be doing, somewhere I need to be.

Especially during the holidays, the world can seem like a roller coaster that never ends, racing uphill and swooping down again with heart stopping speed.

Hurry up and put your shoes on.
Stop dawdling.
Eat your dinner.
Just one book tonight, it's late.


There's just never enough time to get it all in--the meals and the playdates, the work and the social media and the writing, walks for the dog and baths for the baby and glitter painting with my little girl.

The nonstop race against the clock so we aren't late to preschool, we don't miss ballet class, we get home in time for Baby N's nap. The books I read too fast so the end comes sooner. The lullabies that lose a verse or two. The games of Memory that end with me pointing to my watch and saying time's up, we gotta go.


But then I read this post by my talented friend Sherri, and realized how foolish I'm being.

And the seasons, they go round and round...

It's all so fleeting.
I need to slow down.

I don't want to lose any of this, not one single moment. Not even on the days when it feels like the Longest. Day. Ever. Because I will blink, and they will be big, and I will never get these moments back.

We can't return, we can only look behind from where we came...


So I'm slowing down. While I still can. While it still doesn't matter if we're on time to preschool, if we make it home a little late for nap, if we glitter paint so long we end up having popcorn for dinner. There will plenty of time to be on time, to rush around, to work and write and stick to a schedule, when I'm older. And they're older. And we all have places to be and things to do.

But while we're still in the blissful days of babyhood...

I'm dragging my feet to slow the circle down.