Taking our time...

For so long (really since the start of my school years in kindergarten), my life has run on a schedule.  An alarm went off in the morning, and I had somewhere to be at a certain time most days.  School bell rings, time for the first pitch, and even meeting friends at a bar - I constantly looked at a clock and tried to be five minutes early.  My alarm clock still goes off every morning, but now it is my son talking from his crib.  His voice wakes me up each morning, but then the truth is - we have no where that we HAVE to be all day.  In the beginning of my stay-at-home career, I found this daunting.  I still looked at the clock, made up schedules, and pushed Linc to settle into a routine that I created so I felt like I had meaning to my day.  I have now realized that Linc's meaning to the day is life.  His job is to play, interact with me and his world, make connections, and smile.  He has no deadlines, no tie to the clock, and no need to rush through his day and life.

Linc playing his music and dancing away.

With this new found realization, I am appreciating my time at home even more.  We take our time in the morning getting dressed and ready for breakfast.  Linc likes to play "tricks" with me and pretend to sleep and sit in his little chair in his closet to play peek-a-boo all the while he slowly gets dressed in the mornings.  It doesn't matter if snack takes 20 or 60 minutes because we have no where that is demanding our time.  I used to rush through the day to get to the zoo or the museum, but it doesn't matter if we are there at 10am or 10:30am - it just matters that Linc and I explored the new surroundings together, he had fun, and was safe.

Looking at the world through his eyes - watching the ant crawl on the sidewalk, looking for dogs on our morning walks, taking those careful and steady first steps around the house (many, many times) - has forced me to slow down and realize that it is not a race to the end of the day.  This is Lincoln's life.  The only day that he will ever be this age again.  His chance to explore and take his time, and I am so so lucky to be a part of the journey.