The demands of time and attention

Did you ever notice there are some weeks where the demands on your time seem overwhelming? Yeah, I'm kind of feeling that way today.

It's easy to push aside the little ones in your life when you get busy with other things and to view them as nuisances at times. This is not good. When I child feels he is "in the way," it knocks him down a notch in the self-worth department. On the other hand, children need to know they're not the center of the Universe, either. It's a tough juggling act, and the answer lies mostly in your attitude and how your react to their wants, needs or demands.

Right now, my grandbaby is sleeping in the other room. She needs absolutely nothing from me at this time. But that could change at any minute. And when it does, guess what? This blog post will fall by the wayside. Not that it's not important for me to get it written and posted, but priorities change at the sound of a little one's cry. Know what I mean? I hope so.

Whether they're still in a crib, on a T-ball team, or asking for the car keys, our kids (and grandkids) need our undivided attention. Sometimes that's just for a moment or two. Sometimes it's for an hour. Sometimes, like yesterday, it's for an afternoon at a children's museum, watching them explore and discover, watching them play, trying to capture the look of awe in their faces in a photograph. It can be fun. It can be exhausting. It can be challenging. But nothing is more important than letting them know they matter...more than the baseball game on TV, more than the conversation on the phone with a friend, more than the computer game you're playing, more than your blog. They matter. More.

I wish someone had mentioned those things to me when my kids were growing up. I wish my daughter didn't have memories of talking to my back as a teenager while I continued to face the computer as she spoke to me. I wish I'd opted for swimming with the kids over cleaning the house more times than I did. I wish...I wish...I wish. But regrets will get me nowhere.

If you have the chance to turn things around in your own home, go for it. I guarantee you won't look back 10 years from now and regret not seeing that homerun on TV, of hanging up the phone sooner than you wanted to, of not reaching that high score on Bedazzled, or of missing a day on your blog. When you put things in perspective of the big picture, the big picture can change for the better.

Keeping my focus, green or otherwise,

Hana