June 14 Photo: Time

As the mother of two small children, my perception of time has changed drastically. Sometimes, time moves incredibly slowly, like when my 2-1/2 has a tantrum in a store or refuses to take a nap or when my 10-month-old screams from teething pain. Sometimes, it flies by, like when I watch my son ride his tricycle or help vacuum the pool or my daughter feed herself or say, “Mama,” and I wonder when they got so grown up.

As the mother of two, I have also learned to reprioritize my time. It used to be important to me to find time to do things like making my bed or putting on lipstick or shaving my legs or sitting down to eat lunch. Now, it’s more important to me to color with my son or help my daughter feed herself or play in the sandbox with both of them.

Today is a perfect example of how I prioritize my time. As I started writing this blog entry, I took a picture of the clock on the wall:

It’s about 11:30am. And as of fifteen minutes ago, I hadn’t showered or dressed or even brushed my teeth. Because with limited time, I decided I would rather sit and have breakfast with my son and help my daughter practice walking than any of those things. I didn’t wash my hair or put on makeup, but I did wrestle with an imaginary alligator, help build a tower of Legos, and learn the word “engineer”.

Time’s only value is what you choose to do with it. And I’d say I made a pretty good choice today. So if you’ll excuse me, I think I hear a dragon roaring in the next room. I don't have time to think about lunch when there’s a dragon that needs slaying!