“Can you come sit with us on the swings and talk?” my ten-year-old daughter asked last evening.
There were still dirty supper dishes in the sink, stacks of books that needed to be put away, and a blog post to be written.
But I abandoned it all for just a few minutes to sit on the swings in the backyard.
Not much talking took place, actually; both girls showed me how they could hang upside down and discussed between themselves plans to eat their bedtime snack outside. Yet I’m glad I joined them.
After all, isn’t time the most important thing we have to give? No matter how often I remind myself of that, it is still difficult to pull myself away from the tasks at hand to give attention when our children ask for it. Now that they’re older, it’s easier to put them off for a little while or give the impression that I’m too busy to be bothered.
Whenever they want to talk, though, I must be available – whether we actually exchange words or not. Which means that today I’ll remind myself once again to spend my time doing what is truly valuable.
I needed to be reminded of this today, Tracey – thank you. Sometimes ti feels like there is SO much to be done and it's hard to spare extra time to spend with the children (outside of school, meals etc)… But it's so important to be available, even for just quiet time just BEING in their world.
Beautiful reminder of what is important!
I'm so glad that you put aside the chores to sit with your girls!! Time with our little ones is so much more important 🙂