Stolen moments

I am really behind on this blog . . . again.  Instead of trying to catch up, I decided not to.  For now, anyway.

In the midst of running like a crazy person everywhere, today I remembered a discussion with my dad not so long ago about finding time to stop and smell the roses, so to speak, when it comes to my kids.  OK, that's almost impossible for me because I'm so task oriented and busy checking things off that proverbial to-do list.

But my wise father must have planted a seed because I realized I have been sneaking in those moments.  Take today, for example.  After two insanely busy nights in a row at work, I was home this afternoon catching a quick nap when Cooper surprised me by coming in.  He was on his way to the middle school on assignment for student council to talk to 8th graders about preparing for high school (um. . .weird) and had time to stop at home for lunch.  We had all of about 12 minutes, but for that 12 minutes, I was IN the moment--warming a Hot Pocket and getting a precious 12 minutes of his time.  He caught me up on everything going on in his life and then stopped and gave me a hug as he walked out.  Gulp.

Kaiya and I get 30 minutes in the car most days as I take her to gym.  30 minutes while she fills me in on her school stuff, the latest girl drama, and what's new on her Instagram page that I coudn't figure out and tips for how to get past 4 on Flappy Birds.  Yes, I suck.  I turn the radio almost off and, again, I'm in the moment.

Kinley is the last one to go to school each morning and so she doesn't even have to get up for a half hour after Kaiya walks out the door.  But we figured out, especially on mornings like today when I got in bed after work at 2:00 a.m., that between 7:30 and 8:00, we have a precious half hour that we can snuggle in my bed.  Sometimes, we both fall asleep and other times, we talk.  Ok, she talks and I try really hard to stay awake and listen.  But she knows when I come in her room at 7:30, that's our time together.  I learn a lot about what's going on in her head and in her world from 7:30 to 8.

I even got a stolen moment with my neice, Sydney, as she said, "Hold you, Haley" (translation . . . "hold me") on the morning after she spent the night at our house.  Our little earlier riser crawled into my arms to watch an episode of Dora.  I kinda miss Dora.

So today, I'm patting myself on the back.  Not so much for making an effort to be in the moment, but for how amazingly whole it makes me feel as a mom.