Where have I been for the last few weeks? Well, I’ve been “being” with my family! I wrote a few weeks ago about how I would lower my expectations this summer and just “be” with my family so I could fully enjoy the time with them.
Well, I have been doing exactly that. Which hasn’t left a lot of time for writing, which is why you haven’t heard from me for a few weeks.
We have been enjoying moments and making memories. I’ve spent a week at gymnastics camp (boy, was I tired!), swam in the pool, hosted barbecues, seen fireworks displays, went to an amusement park and New York City, and just hung out with my children. It’s been great! And it’s not over yet.
As I was sharing our summer experiences with a friend and the busyness of each day, they responded that they, too, were doing the same thing so they could leave a legacy for their children.
Leaving a legacy… While I know it’s not about running around and doing as much as we possibly can, it is about sharing each moment we’re together and making them count. Passing on some of life’s hard earned wisdom to my children when they are in the frame of mind to absorb it. Or just enjoying some s’mores around the fire pit.
A big reason I do all this running around for my children is because I want them to have opportunities I didn’t have as a child. Some because we didn’t have the funds and others because those opportunities didn’t exist years ago.
Whatever the reason, I so want them to enjoy their childhood. I want them to look back on it and smile, remembering all the fun they had, the friends they made, the things they learned.
So my husband and I sacrifice time and money, juggle schedules and responsibilities, cheer and encourage, and put aside some of our wants for the benefit of our children. Just like you do.
Just as my parents did the same for me, we do the same for our children, and I imagine they will do the same for their children, and so on through each generation. We want our children’s lives to be better than our own, just as our parents did for us.
I so enjoyed my childhood! Swimming in the back yard, playing in the park, ice skating each night under the lights, playing house and school with my brothers and sisters, spending time with friends and family, visiting our many cousins, playing Barbie dolls and board games—Parcheesi was my mother’s favorite.
It seems as if our children grow up so fast these days. They’re “too old,” they say, for so many things at the age of 12 or 13. They go from childlike activities to grown up activities in the blink of an eye.
Not our children. They are enjoying their childhood years—playing, laughing, sports, friends, barbecues, Legos, gymnastics, music, church, school. The list goes on.
My prayer is that, years from now, when they talk about their childhood with their children, they will smile about it just as I do mine. And how happy I am to know that everything I do today will make a difference in years to come. I am enjoying my time this summer “being” with my family—I wouldn’t trade it for the world—and I encourage you to do the same!