using every minute for what you love 9.26.2024

My youngest son, M scurried to his bucket of toys as I grabbed his backpack and lunch. “Come on buddy,” I hollered. We had to get going to school. He quickly replied, “I just gotta grab these two toys!” I almost answered back with annoyance that it didn’t matter since his ride to school is about 5 minutes, but I stopped. It wasn’t worth the breath because as I turned back, he was right behind me heading to the car.

As I buckled him in, my thoughts shifted from the usual hope that we aren’t late to almost an epiphany. M is not being difficult, he is simply using every minute of the day for something he loves. He didn’t care that he only had a five minute car ride, he wanted to use that time to play something he enjoys. When I thought about that not only could I not blame him for grabbing those toys at the last minute, but I thought, he is really onto something.

We complained as adults (or at least I do in my head), that I don’t have enough time to do things that really bring me joy. But also, I often “think” I don’t have the time. Those middle minutes between the big things I’ll check my phone, check the weather, jot down a reminder note, ponder a non-urgent issue, check my phone…But really, what if I actually used those minutes in the middle to do things that filled my soul, like read a book, call a friend, dance to a quick song, maybe even sit down.

What do you think? Is it possible in our hurried world, that we can take advantage of the 3 to 5 minute breaks in time to do things we love or am I just fooling myself?

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more. a mother’s narrative. 11.1.2024

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how to know when to pause and when to push 9.3.2024