Most days of the week mainly Monday to Friday seem to drag just a little bit. Work if it isn’t fun or exciting is just time being wasted. Once you have a child, time seems to become a commodity like gold or money. Most often it is seen in the trade of money that you get some alone time (this usually involves a baby sitter).
In the end when I start to think about about time pasted that its now stuck in a high speed loop. Wake up take care of Marc, pass Marc off to wife for feeding, jump in shower, take Marc from wife while she showers, leave for work, work, work, work, get home from work take care of Marc, put Marc in bath, put Marc in bed, eat dinner with wife, watch 1 hour of TV with wife, start trying to move to bed. Repeat and rinse Monday to Friday.
Weekends seem to be the moments we have free – between catching up with family, friends, Marc is now invited to play dates and birthday parties. So with the shiny 10 minutes I get to myself usually around 11:40PM I write these blog postings…
But I think its always nice to stop and breathe… We are quickly approaching the end of winter the cherry blossoms will soon be here – I know this by my wife’s [Link] email and phone non stop ringing trying to book dates in central park. We’re planning a trip to Florida to see my grandparents (Marc’s great grandparents) its a lot of planning as you can imagine.
Trying to figure out the short plan for the future, which as you can imagine or know is pretty tough when you have a small child. Who knows what today will bring.
Most importantly is the knowledge that we are moving forward in time without noticing the amazing changes… in the twitter ether today, I saw a mom amazed her baby was about to turn 1… I saw a father come to realize that his son is form short sentences… These are all milestones that are amazing and how quickly we forget the small infant we once held in one arm. When was the last time you compared your child’s current diapers (if needed) to a newborn or size 1. It is amazing that we’re moving forward at such a pace.
The phrase take a moment to smell the roses never really struck a cord with me until these days. The days when I feel like I barely have a moment to breathe, enjoy my wife’s company (alone), enjoy play time with Marc, or just a moment to myself. Most guys I know use their bathroom as their thinking time and sometimes I do too but more often then not its on to the next thing.
For today hug your wife or partner – tell them how much you love and appreciate all that they do. Take a moment for yourself – walk the long way home from the subway – notice the smell in the air that is spring on its way (sometimes in New York City that could just be the missed trash no collected :P). Take a snapshot of your kids on a random day and savior the moment.
Today, Tessa hit the 11 month mark and I can't believe how fast it has gone. I do try and savor as much as possible. I think blogging and being home with her each day always to do that, but it still feels like a whirlwind.
Great post. I enjoy walking up the hill to work from my bus. Gives me a few minutes to breath the fresh air and be introspective.
Now I just need that Keg of Beer.
Just as you see your son making strides each day so do parents of older children. My son may have known where his eyes are last week as well as this while your son may have just learned that, we all take note of the growth. But the importance of your story is sit back and feel the pride of each new milestone. They will keep happening, every day or later on every so often, but enough to realize what a great job we the collective fathers (or parents) are doing. Your commentary made me think about the growth of my son and how proud he makes me…
Lovely post, time goes by so quickly and half the time we forget to take it in.