“Mommy, can you play with me?”
His voice broke into my concentration as I studied my to-do list for the day figuring out which more pressing thing I should do next.
I started to launch into a gentle explanation about how Mommy was busy this morning, but I quickly caught myself as I looked at his pleading eyes.
I glanced back at my list — the list that just moments ago had seemed so important — and all those handwritten to-do’s paled in comparison to my little 4-year-old.
He will only be little once. Someday soon, he won’t be begging me to play with him. He’ll be all grown up and involved in his own life and dreams.
For today, the to-do list can wait. I’ve got more important plans… I’m laughing, giggling, loving on, and playing with my little boy.
Tammy L says
What a cutie! Silas’s smile is so bright! 🙂
Amber L. says
Crystal, When I started following your blog you were 9 months pregnant with him and I was 8 months pregnant with my daughter. Watching him grow while watching my own blessing grow has been nothing short of amazing. Some weeks I don’t get to read your blog at all because of work and motherhood, but oh how sweet it has been “sharing” the highs and lows of mothering with you and your readers. Thank you for always being so open and honest about your journey through life; it has really made a difference for so many of us going through the day-to-days.
Crystal says
Thanks so much for being on this journey with me! Your comment was an encouragement!
Beka says
LOVE this!!
Diana says
I did this today too!
Krista says
Thanks for posting this. I am a SAHM who just started working 25 hours a week to help with our family finances. This morning I looked around at our disaster of a house and decided to rock my baby to sleep and snuggle with my 3 year old on the couch to watch cartoons. I’m back at work and while I feel like I should be stressing about when I’ll be getting the house cleaned and laundry done, I’m really just glad I chose to spend time with my boys. It’s a tricky thing to juggle (something I still had a hard time juggling when I wasn’t working this much) spending time with kids and getting the to-do list done. I still haven’t figured it all out, but taking it one day at a time is easiest for me!
Carollynn McMahan says
I wish I had been as wise as you when I was a young mom. How many times did I say “I will in a few minutes, but first I have to ______”. I wish I had played more when they were little, even though I did play a lot, I still wish I’d played even more. Now, they are 20 and 16. Time flies when they are young, don’t miss a minute of it.
Emily says
4 is the best age ever! When my daughter was 4 I told her not to get any bigger, as she was perfect the way she was. But disobedient girl did get older and now is 17 years old. Enjoy the sweet boy.
Mylynda says
These are words of wisdom that are rarely conveyed to our generation of parents. I was blessed with a grandmother who insisted that I learn from what she considered to be her mistakes. My mamma insists that she(my grandmother) actually did spend plenty of quality time with each of them when they were little. I suppose once they are out of the house, it is easier to see where you could have made even more time for them. Anyway, thanks for being so humble and sharing how easy it is to get caught up in the daily grind. Your tender heart has brought tears to my eyes and I am going to go hug my children. Beautiful pictures!! Thanks for sharing so much of your life with us. You are an inspiration.
Stephanie says
As a momma who just married her first child this past May, I can assure it does go by so fast! I tried to savor every moment and it STILL went by too fast! Good choice, and boy is he adorable!
Karen says
I always came into conflict with my mother when my kids were little. She thought I should be cleaning more and playing less. I’m glad I didn’t listen to her because today my mid 20 to 30yr old kids and I have a bond unlike anything I havewith her!
I believe with all my heart that a mother needs to imvest time doing things with her kids; when they’re little that means playing..when in grade school it means helping with homework and PTA; and most importantly when they are highschoolers it means keeping REALLY CURRENT with music and pop culture trends. You can’t guide them in a direction if you don’t know what they are up against!
And lastly, if I could offer one piece of advice to single mothers: Please don’t date or get involved with anyone until your children are 18. I was a single mother from the time my youngest was 8 and I lived by this last bit of advice and never once regretted it!
Anyway, not sure why I felt so compelled to be wordy today except that raising kids is SUCH AN IMPORTANT JOB.
Amber says
I disagree about single mothers not dating. My parents separated when I was still in elementary school and I don’t have any aunts or uncles who were married. Sure, there were mistakes, but I was able to learn from watching my mother how good relationships were supposed to work. What a good relationship looked like. How parents were supposed to co -parent. On the flip side, my mother-in-law didn’t date ever after she had my husband. It took a lot of time for him to learn how to work together in our relationship (he always tried to take on to much until he got frustrated). And the really sad part is that because she never dated again and never married she didn’t have someone there to tell her she was being ridiculous and needed to go to the doctor when her health started failing (she didn’t want us to know that she had started to lose feeling in her extremities).
Karen says
Aww! You made me tear up and I’m not even a mom (I am a nanny though to 4 who are growing up too fast, in my opinion)!
Elise says
I always knew motherhood would be hard, but I had no inkling that trying to balance spending enough time with the kiddos, and other duties would be so hard!
When I get frustrated about getting behind, I try to remind myself that it’s my attitude that my toddler will remember. I’m pretty sure he won’t remember that I didn’t mop the floor again this week, but he’ll probably notice if I’m doing things wih him grudgingly, rather than habit the joyful attitude that I should. I *think* I’m getting better at it anyway…
Denise says
Oh he is darling and that is so the right choice. What a blessing to be able to play with your boy.
Erik Fisher says
Ok, I choked up. Thanks for that powerful reminder.
Jessica says
I just had this happen yesterday! I had to make a conscious effort to set aside what needed to be done just to have some time with my little man (he is 4 as well). At the end of the day when he said he had a great day with me I knew that all the pending chores were worth it!
Rebekah from Simply Rebekah says
Oh my word! I can’t believe he is 4 already. He is so precious!!
Amy R says
So convicting! It’s amazing how quickly priorities get out of whack. Thanks for sharing this…I think we’ll make some edible playdough this morning instead of running errands that I can do after they’re in bed!
Jennifer says
Oh geez, you made me tear up. And he looks just like you! So cute!
Kelly says
It’s awesome how God uses four year old boys to teach us so much about faith, life, and priorities! I’ve learned more from my four-year-old than any of my peers. Enjoy your kids today! 🙂
Kellie says
This brought tears to my eyes because lately my 2 1/2 year old son has been asking me to play with him and I drop everything Im doing because I know one day he wont ask me to play with him anymore. I had to get after my husband as well because our son Jakob went to him and asked and my husband was like aw no im sorry im busy, I had to give him the reminder that he wont be so little for long and one day he will stop asking him. Makes me so sad to think about how time will fly but have to enjoy while we can and create memories that will last a life time.
Holli says
I did the same thing today. I wanted to make supper ahead of time and then my daughter said she wanted to make pop bead necklaces with me. I smiled and sat down with her, supper could wait, it was only 1:30.
Stacey says
Love this! Today is going to be a long day, but I think some time with my little girl (turned 3 on the 2nd) is in order 🙂
Erica @ Sort of Crunchy says
The other day I fell asleep on the couch with my almost 2 year old while my older two kids were at school. I woke up after an hour and started thinking about all of the things I had to get done and that I really needed to get up but I looked over at my sweet little girl cuddling with me and realized that moment like this were not going to happen forever, so I fell right back asleep.
I am really trying to remember that my kids will one day not be begging me to play or want to cuddle with me and that they are not going to remember how clean the house was or how many things I got done when they are older. They are going to remember how present I was in their lives.
Jamie Rohrbaugh says
There is a song by the group “33 Miles” called “One Life to Love” that tears me up. It talks about this very subject and the chorus says:
“You only get just one time around
You only get one shot at this
One chance to find out
The one thing that you don’t wanna miss
One day when it’s all said and done
I hope you see that it was enough
This one ride, one try, one life to love”
Messes me up every time. Good for you for letting the to-do list wait. 🙂
Lacey says
Good for you, you are so right!
Lisa Pepper says
So true, enjoy it while it’s happening. 4 years old only last 365 days and it’s oh so wonderful. My little boys are now 16 & 17 and driving off to places without having to have Mommy. It’s a fun time, but just a different stage in Mommy-hood ;o)
Christiana says
My boys are 11, 11, 10 and we stay pretty busy with a strict tight schedule of school, homework, sports 5x a week and I work weekend nights. I always have to remind myself that the chores can wait I want to see them. I have this weekend off and we are celebrating. My 10 year old just made student council on top of football and wrestling, one of my 11 yr olds just made A squad in wrestling on top of football and the other 11 yr old just got his cast off ( broke his kneecap in 8 spots and severed his tendon playing football). I asked my boys how they wanted to celebrate: friends over, going out to eat, etc.. They said order pizza, movies with just me and their dad. So we have the whole weekend cleared to just hang out as a family. My boys said they can’t wait. They are growing up too fast. Take advantage of all these little moments.
Jessica @ The Abundant Wife says
Thank you so much for sharing this post. I have a 4 year old, an almost 3 year old, and an 8 month old and I’ve been convicted of the same thing recently. I can’t believe my oldest is almost Kindergarten age. These early years have flown by. I don’t want to miss these precious little years. 🙂
Sarah says
Thanks for the great reminder! I need to walk away from the to-do list more often myself!!
Kimberly says
Oh Crystal he is just growing so fast! You made the perfect choice. You will never regret it 🙂
Anne says
Good choice! We are not even friends, but I am so proud of you. 🙂
Crystal says
You are so sweet! 🙂
Tracy Selle says
You made the right choice! My son turned 13 yesterday—-where has the time gone? TREASURE every moment because the time passes quickly!
L says
What a beautiful little boy! I am glad that you took the time to play with your son!
My son is now 13 and truly a special gift to our family! We love him so much! His autism, though, has prevented us from ever hearing him say a word. We are hopeful that in this lifetime, or for sure in the next, that we will hear him talk. That will be a blessed day! Speech is truly a gift!
Team Southerland says
Amen!
Andrea says
What a great reminder. Especially after a day like today. I’m blessed to be home with my kids and sometimes I don’t appreciate or cherish that gift enough. Thank you for this.
Chelsea says
Very sweet post and pics of Silas. 🙂 Good job putting your list away!
Christy says
Thank you for being so willing to teach. I have a 14 month old daughter and struggle to find the balance between loving on her and cleaning the house, cooking, etc.
Tammy says
So true!! What a little cutie he is:) My oldest is 18 and about to leave for the Army and my youngest is 6 months old. You blink and they’re grown, hold onto every precious moment!
LeAnn says
Love it! I often say, “I’m rockin’ my babies and babies don’t keep.” 🙂
Melissa @ Freeing Imperfections says
With a face like that, who cares about the to do list! He is such a sweetie!
Crystal says
I know. Love that little guy so much!
Sarah says
Great post. Need to play with my 2 year old much more often. Plus, I just have to say you look absolutey gorg in your little icon picture!!!!
Crystal says
You are so sweet!
Jessica @ The Abundant Wife says
I agree with Sarah! I love your new profile photo!
Liz says
Me three, i agree.