Living In The Moment
As a parent to teenagers, it’s hard for me to just “live in the moment” everyday with everybody’s schedule everywhere on any given day. Between work, school, and a myriad of after school activities between two kids my digital calendar dings at least four times a day to alert me when one activity is slated to start.
Robyn driving, and driving well, is such a blessing. January will make a year since she became licensed and got her own set of wheels. It has made all the difference in the flow of things with our often conflicting schedules.
Being able to get to places more readily, has also allowed her to take on more activities—which I didn’t advise but she did anyway. She is always very good about keeping me abreast of her weekly schedule and when I can’t remember readily a quick text inquiry does the trick.
Jacob will begin recreation basketball soon and he’s excited. That will just mean more road time for me but less screen time for him. He got a PS5 last year and he still plays it like he got it last week but only certain games.
Well his new obsession is College Football 2025, which he got over the holiday week when it went on sale. He’s been losing sleep over it but when basketball practice kicks back in and the game schedule hits, he’ll be too tired to play the game.
I went through all that to say that living in the moment is important when at all possible. If our lives are always performed through schedules where is the fun in that? We need indulgences. We need to stop to smell the flowers. And let me tell you there are times when I will literally stop the vehicle to smell the flowers. I did it when were traveling in Connecticut in October and they were like “mom get back in the car” before I had them in the field too.
We spent Thanksgiving with family and they were able to hang out with their niece and two great-nieces who are 18 month old twins. The last time we spent any significant amount of time with them was some months ago before they were walking and talking good jibberish. Watching them with their mother was priceless…and tiring!
For a woman who I didn’t forsee having any children, she has managing two at once down to an art (when she is doing single parent duty). The morning begins with milk in their sippy cups, then a change out of their pjs which includes a skin moisturizing rub down to soothe their eczema. From there it usually goes to play time on the mat while their mom prepares their first meal of the day which she then feeds to them simultaneously. She looks like a mama bird feeding two little birdies with their beaks open.
After brunch there was usually some down time but not much for mom because it was gathering dirty clothes or picking up toys in preparation of nap time.
Nap time gives mom a break, when she usually naps as well, because her nightime sleep is disrupted with a consistent 3 a.m. wakeup of one of the girls. After nap time, the activities start anew with snacks, play time, another feeding, possibly an outing, another nap, bath time, warm milk, and sleep time.
It was all very exhausting for me to watch from a mother’s perspective as she was “living in her moment” as a twin mommy. It’s hard to see beyond the current time when you got that much going on. I told her the older they get the more independent they will become and it won’t be so crazy…I guess, I never had twins.
It’s been a busy year and the holidays don’t allow it to slow down much. But after Christmas I think the kids and I are heading back to NOLA to unwind and truly live in the moment with some beignets.