SLOW DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm on Year Nine of Motherhood...I can still remember Year One like it was just last year. I'll look at old pictures on my blog or my phone and just gaze in awe at how small my Tiny was even 3 or 4 years ago. I think back on all the adventures we've been on and can't believe how many times she and I have been to NYC.
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This seems as good a time as any to finish this blog post. I started this in Aug and it's now Oct. Let's see if I can finish explaining how this 9 year old Chickee needs to slow down in life before the month is over!
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And I failed. But that's OK. B/c sometimes spending life enjoying time w/ the love of your life (aka your daughter) is way better than blogging about it! So here we are in Jan. 2018 and I log into blogspot to write a summary blog from 2017 only to find out I never finished this one.

The thing is, facebook keeps reminding me how quickly time is going by and it keeps hitting me - as a kid we always want time to go faster. "I wish I was older and could go out without my parents. I wish I was a teenage and could have more freedom. I wish I was done w/ college and paying bills and living by my own rules". Suddenly it becomes, "I wish I was a kid without bills to worry about. I wish had more money to buy things I want - like when I could ask Santa and he'd bring what I want. I wish I could go back to being a kid and slow down time."

I remember all of these feelings and I see Emer wishing time away. She wants school breaks to come so she can play all day but then she wants the breaks to end so she can see her friends every day again. She wants it to be Halloween b/c then her friends will be coming over for our party. Next up Christmas - she can't wait for Santa! We had a New Year's Eve party which couldn't come fast enough b/c her friends were going to be spending the night. And she's already wishing time away for her birthday b/c I told her that when I was a kid I read that age 10 is the best year of your life. She can't wait to be 10.

There is no way to slow this down...there is no way to get a kid to realize time is flying by. We just have to treasure each moment we get and live in it. Understand that the argument over cleaning your bathroom will always be there and it's best to be held on a day when nothing else is in sight. Remember that putting away toys is so much less fun than getting them out and sometimes it takes a friend yelling at you to finish your chores before you will do them. Understanding that reading in the hallway or bathroom instead of getting in the shower is a way to lengthen the evening and get more time to hang out. As a parent, I see the reason behind the rules as well as the fun behind the rebellion. As me, I get frustrated at her disobedience and blatant ignoring of us. As a parent, I struggle to find the right way to teach her things of importance while also allowing her to learn through her actions. As me, I am reminded of my pushing the boundaries and struggle to exert independence.

** But at the end of the day, I love my Chickee, my Emer, my Tiny. And she can argue with me all she wants but I will always love her. Even though I can't get her to slow down...