Over the break a friend got for me a notebook with one of my favorite sayings on the front: Keep calm and carry on. It’s a mantra I’d like to start living by, and I figured that now – at the start of a new year – is as good of a time as any. And while I’m at it (and related to this), I’d also like to stress less about life’s little stuff (something I’ve been working on for years!) and to better savor life’s little moments, especially those involving the girls. The writer at Motherlode, one of my favorite blogs, actually perfectly captured my sentiments when she wrote about “enjoying it” being one of her resolutions:

I admit it, I’ve made this last resolution for years. I’ve made it at every fresh start, with the arrival of every child and with every one of the various events throughout any year that remind me that life is short and childhood is even shorter. In 2012, I’m going to “be here now.” I’m going to take a deep breath when we run crazy late for hockey practice and remember that it’s not the destination that matters but the way we make the trip — which won’t take any more time if I do it without slamming doors or even speeding down the driveway.

If I’m honest, most of the time, I still won’t take that deep breath. I’ll still get too frustrated with the child whose willful refusal to put her boots on (combined with my refusal to leave a child that young at home alone) created the late departure and all the tension that came with it. But in 2012, again, I’ll try. I’ll try to laugh at the spilled milk and the torn coat and the marker that went right through the paper onto the table or at the very least, not let those little things color a whole afternoon.

And so, I will try also!

-M

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 4th, 2012 at 9:58 am and is filed under 66.Two kids-January 12. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.