Thursday, February 19, 2015

Time

With my first child, time stood still. Days passed in a blurry haze of cuddles and naps together. It seemed sometimes that weeks lasted forever.

With my second I feel that time is squirming out of my grasp, and I am unable to pin it down long enough to enjoy the moment.  Days fly by in a flurry of activity. Swimming lessons, birthday parties, play dates, errands - and the endless stream of laundry.

I keep reminding myself to be still. To put down the phone. To ignore the dishes and get down on the floor to play trains. To build forts out of blankets and pillows, and turn empty toilet roll tubes into eye spy glasses. To take a moment and stop, and really see my children.  The way the sun turns their small red heads into a million shades of auburn. The way their cheeks dimple as they smile. 

The other day my son leaned into me as I was cooking dinner. "Mama?" He said, imploring me to come down to his level. 
So I did.
He took my cheeks in his hands and kissed me. 
Then he ran off to play with his fire trucks. 

I took a snapshot in my mind and tucked it into memory. 


Thursday, February 12, 2015

More toddler ideas

What did mothers do before the Internet? I mean seriously - it's a never ending source of amazing ideas.
Baking soda and coloured vinegar.

You can see where this is going. I had no eye droppers so I used straws and spoons. Not such a great idea. Next time I need the eye droppers.
But he loved it. The fizzing, the colours. It was a big hit!