a challenge for the day.

The mornings have been peaceful and cool here.

I’ve been forcing myself to attempt rising a tad earlier than normal.  I’ve found the porch so inviting and comfortable and quiet before the heat and the busy of the day begin.

There’s a quote like a mantra that reverberates in my mind.

I heard it when my babies were actually babies and I remember writing it on the box of wipes and painting it on a wall.  I’m certain I’ve shared it here before as well.

The days are long but the years are short.

This morning, this day – keep that idea close.

When your face is pointed toward a glowing screen and your child squeezes his kid body between you and what has your attention at the moment, stop what you’re doing.  Look that kid in the eyes when he tells you about the Lego house he’s just created.  Engage him.  Don’t just nod and smile and say, “Cool.”  Ask him a question.  Get up and walk to where he is playing.

These hot summer days are long.

But you will not remember them that way.

They will soon seem far away and long ago and where once you held a sleeping baby in your arms you now behold a long-legged boy racing through the yard.

Oh mommas, enjoy your view today.  

Kiss the tousled heads of hair that gather at your breakfast table and crowd into your space and make noise when you wish for quiet and spill milk on the floor and leave puzzle pieces under the sofa and change your plans and break your favorite cups and fill your heart and eat your food.

Choose to love your life today.