So many times I get way too far in front of myself. My brain is filled with to do lists and budget numbers. My hands are full with groceries and dirty dishes. Schedules, calendars, meals, laundry, prescriptions, meetings, deadlines, and conference calls. Articles and editing, practices and performances. Our family is on the go this spring (and every other season). It’s easy to fly through life and miss the truly sweet moments we could share together.
There’s a great temptation to think that our kids want more of our stuff. That they want more of our dollars to buy uniforms and tap shoes or that they want more of our shoes and clothes (a situation that seems to happen more and more the older the Princess Eldest gets). We think that they want more toys or more vacations or more electronics or more viewings of Frozen.
Can I let you in on a great truth? Your kids really just want more of you (and maybe a little Frozen, too but they want to watch it with you). More of your ears listening. More of your arms to hang on to. More of your eyeballs looking them when they speak and not at a screen (guilty 10 times over here). More opportunities to play on the floor together. More time. More of you.
When I slow down enough to remove everything from my hands and heart, I get wrapped up inside of my girls’ worlds. Something as simple as playing with LEGO® Friends together draws our lives together. Not only that, I am blessed with this amazing brief fleeting moment to step inside their worlds, to be swept away in their imaginations. To hear their hopes and dreams, to see their creativity bloom and their abilities grow.
There will always be one more meal to plan. There will always be another deadline and another phone call and another article to write. There won’t always be another moment frozen in time when one of my daughters actually wants to play with me. There won’t always be the broad expanse of imagination that is childhood. There won’t always be LEGO® Friends left on the floor that I step on in the middle of the night. And honestly, even though it hurts like something I can’t imagine typing, it kind of makes me sad.
No your children don’t want your money. But they do require an investment. Spending time with your child is the most valuable investment you could ever make. Far better than a college fund or an inheritance of a million dollars, the time you spend together will multiply and grow over the years.
I wish I could lock the Princess Youngest’s current state of being up and throw away the key. We sat on the floor playing together with LEGO® Friends and I listened to her constant sweet chatter. Talking to each of the characters. Dreaming of what she could create. Building bunk beds and cars, walls and houses, and then beginning all over again, her creativity sprang to life over and over again and my joy deepened with each unique creation. She’s learning about herself as she creates a universe all of her own. Constructing her own path – learning what works and what doesn’t, she’s developing persistence. And even working together with her sister (gasp!) she builds a project she can be proud of, problem solving and dreaming as a team.
In our home, we love to purchase quality toys than can be used consistently – classics that don’t wear down and stand the test of time. LEGO® Friends are well loved by both of the Princesses and me, too. I’m never disappointed when I sit down for a few minutes to invest a few minutes in my girls. I know they will pay in dividends that I can’t even measure.
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