A - Z 2021: The Days are long, but the Years are short



Welcome back, almost done! Yesterday we were kissing a Xenopus hoping it'd turn into a prince.

These last letters of the alphabet are tough ones. Once you're over X it's getting easier. Or so I thought. After all Y has better words as in they're not Greek or medical, but does it have to be so difficult to find a good phrase?

Actually YES! (Notice the Y-word)

And why? (Also a Y-word. Sort of)

Because Y is a crooked letter, and Z is no better!!!

We'll see about that tomorrow. 

So today... What are we going to do about Y?

Since we're being silly, I'd like to use my favorite Die Hard Quote:

"Yippee-Ki-Yay, Motherf*****"

That's acceptable, right?

Give them an Inch and they’ll take a Mile. 

Wait, what was I thinking. Not one word is starting with a Y. Let's make it Yards. If they're going to take a Mile, they have to start with Yards. Right? I live in Europe, so I have to put these units into perspective:

An Inch equals 2.54 centimeters
A Yard is 0.9144 meter
A mile is 1.6 kilometer

Boom, give them an Inch and they'll take 1760 Yards. Totally works! 

Here's a truth of life:

Growing Youth has a Wolf in his Belly.

No kidding! Speaking of hungry teenagers:

The Days are long, but the Years are short

Aww, so true. When they're babies and toddlers they're so demanding. They need feedings and diaper changes and burps and walks all the time. They want to play with you and tell you everything about their favorite toy or Disney character. 

Once you go back to work you feel guilty. Guilty towards the baby you abandon at daycare. Guilty towards people at work because you can't work super late cause have to run and pick up the little one three seconds before daycare closes. Actually you try to be there three minutes before they close. 

Always make sure you're not the last Mommy to pick up your kid. That's important!

Every once in a while, the worst case scenario happens:




You tie their shoelaces, you prep their lunch box. At some point they get pretty self-sufficient, and you get to exhale. God forbid you blink though. They're off to college, and just like that, you're an empty-nester.

Copied from my blogger friend Lisa's FB wall



I'm somewhere in the middle of that journey, and already it feels like where did the time go? 

A couple of years ago I came across The Gift of an ordinary Day video. Mother of two boys and book author Katrina Kenison captures each and every situation with the perfect words. Grab tissues before watching.



I had to dig deep into my old blog posts to find out just how long ago couple of years ago was. 

Eight years, that's how long. Colin was turning five years old, and there was a situation that made me feel I needed to teach him about keeping or breaking promises and ensuing consequences. I felt I was probably being too strict, but I certainly didn't want to be too lax. 

I'm glad I managed to set and enforce boundaries back then, because I seem to be able to reap what I sowed now that he's a teenager.

Knock on wood, I hope I'm not jinxing anything. So far he's been responsible, reliable and trustworthy. Yes, I'll get the occasional sight, eye-roll or grunt, but frankly, if that's all I am happy. More importantly he's a joy to be around. 



Katrina Kenison's video is based on the same-titled book she wrote. I had ordered it back then, began reading and never finished. Same goes for a book called "when your kids push your buttons". I consider this the umbrella effect: if you bring an umbrella, it won't rain. Buy parenting books on bratty children, your kid will be perfect ;-)

Last week it was spring break, and since I couldn't have him sit in front of a screen all day long, I tried to engage him in outings, which of course was somewhat restricted due to Covid. After eating takeout lunch in the car due to the wind chill factor ruining the otherwise nice and sunny day, I drove him to the book store, but there was nothing new for him. His favorite authors can't keep up!

Even though we had already met a friend, standing in front of the coffee store, wearing masks (that's how people meet for coffee these days), I pushed my luck and asked if he minded hunting for a magnolia tree I'd heard about. "If it makes you happy", he said. 

See what I mean? A pleasure to be around. 





Bottom line of this post: cherish every stage with your family. How are you doing in that aspect? Do you agree, are the days long, but the years short?

Let me know below, and please include the link to your post.

Be back for the last letter of the alphabet tomorrow, we'll Zero In on the target!
 


Comments

  1. this line made me chuckled "Buy parenting books on bratty children, your kid will be perfect ;-)"...might just do that. I have a soon to be 5 year old boy, he amazes me and there are days I wish he goes to school the whole day although he only starts KG in summer, I want to cherish every little tantrums, disagreements - he is my one and only and I keep seeing him as a baby in my arms. I totally agree with the days are long and the years are short, we truly only have 16 - maybe 18 summers with our kids...unless they still want to hang out during summer as adults!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Days are long and years are short is so very true. I look back and wonder where the years have gone, but some days... very long!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for doing the math. Love this: give them an Inch and they'll take 1760 Yards.

    Our children are adults now. I miss them. And your friend, Lisa's fb post is spot on.

    I came across Katrina's book almost nine years ago. It was a super busy time for me with work and teenagers. The book helped me to slow down. In fact, my blog (an what it's called) is inspired by that book.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh yes I totally agree . My twelve year old is almost as tall as me now and I miss holding his little hand and walking him to school
    https://pagesfromjayashree.blogspot.com/2021/04/y-for-yule-ball.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is a valuable lesson I almost learned too late. When we are working and striving, it's easy to just push from one day to the next without appreciating the present. Thankfully, when I began my family history research in my 40s I suddenly realized my parents would not be here forever -- and that prompted me to spend much more cherished quality time with them as they aged. https://mollyscanopy.com/2021/04/youth-job-at-the-altamont-fair-atozchallenge/

    ReplyDelete
  6. The picture I landed on today, was awesome and it brought tears to my eyes. Holding your baby is a precious feeling.......
    I have balanced my profession not to hurt my time with my children.. I had to because of my daughter's special needs.
    I will be catching up with older posts once we are done with the challenge tomorrow. Wow! It is going to be over tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  7. SO true! Mine are 34, 32 and 24, just.like.that.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for the shout out. That post is from a page called Grace and Mercy. Two things needed when raising little humans!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yes, life can pass you by. If you don't stop and smell the flowers from time to time, you can miss it. (I think that's how it goes. It's been years since I saw the movie. He was paraphrasing someone way more influential, of course.)

    ReplyDelete
  10. This has always been one of my favorite quotes because I think it is so very true. When the kids were little, some days felt like they would never end but then suddenly they've grown up. It flies by so fast. You do need to appreciate it when it's happening but it's also okay to just have a bad day sometimes and want that day to end. Weekends In Maine

    ReplyDelete
  11. This post made me cry and I didn't even watch the video. I absolutely agree. They are young too short and we are old too long. Precious is the time we have. I hope my daughter will understand and not take any moment for granted when that new baby comes... oh and guess what, she's naming her after my middle name. Ella.
    Cheers,Crackerberries

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank you for your comment. It will be visible as soon as I had a chance to verify that you are not an anonymous user and/or a spammer.