carly simon – MamaBlogga

Perspective or plague?

Like, probably, all of you, I have a number of friends who no longer have young children or any children at home. And like, probably, all of you, these friends often remind me that one day I won’t have my children at home—and I’ll miss it.

While I know that they’re right, I don’t know that hearing that makes it any easier now. On the days when I can’t get enough of my kids, knowing that one day they’ll leave me only makes me even more desperate to soak in as much as I can (which I was already doing).

On the days when Hayden wakes up 5, 6, or 7 times at night, pukes, refuses to try to nap, and wails/moans for me every 20-30 minutes, I’m a desperate for a very different reason, wishing that they were a little more correct in saying that these times are gone in an instant.

And since today is one of the latter, hearing that comment is less likely to make me smile and nod and more likely to make me bite my well-intentioned friend’s head off. (Probably a good thing none of these friends have come by today.)

How about you—does being reminded that these days are “fleeting treasures” help you or hurt you in your daily life?

Anticipation

So I love me some Pandora. Free Internet radio = very cool. Now other people can hear the soundtrack of my life that’s constantly playing in my head. For some strange reason, it’s usually ’70s music. And in case you’ve forgotten, that’s before my time.

The other day, “Anticipation” by Carly Simon came up on my station and a few of the lyrics struck me:

We can never know about the days to come
But we think about them anyway
And I wonder if I’m really with you now
Or just chasing after some finer day.

I know I sometimes wish away the present hoping for the future—when Rebecca can talk, when Hayden can get his own snacks, when they’re in school, then life will be really good.

But of course, we don’t really know what the future will bring, so it’s always important to value the time that we have now—Hayden’s spontaneous proclamations of love, Rebecca’s first giggles, and all the firsts that are happening now instead of yet to come.

We just have to realize now that one day we’ll look back and think, as Carly Simon’s repeated refrain says, that “These are the good old days.”