Our last day in Boston was just as hopping as the rest! We ran some errands, played with Brett’s new remote control airplane, visited with Auntie Eileen – and went out for dinner to The Hardcover (can’t get enough of those crackers with pub cheese. Mmmmm…)
It’s been a great trip. And has made me realize/remember a few things:
- Kids grow up fast. And while each stage may come with a few frustrations, you are also guaranteed some pretty amazing growth and miracles to enjoy.
- There is an ebb and flow to life – some busy times, and some relaxing times. I think there is a secret in trying to learn how to plant yourself firmly in each moment and soak up everything being offered.
- Multi-tasking is overrated. That’s a tough one for me, but I have to remember that there is always more to do. Sometimes it’s important to pointedly make sure that I create less to do.
- Everything is more fun with Brendan. And he has helped me more than anything in my 40 years of life, to get better at items 2 and 3. Whether I am changing a diaper, giving him a bottle, cleaning spit-up off my favorite sweater… no matter if we are out running errands, or hanging at home – each moment feels real. It feels sacred. It feels important and worthwhile.
As we head home, and I spend my last days of full maternity leave, I want to try and more successfully follow my mantras. I don’t want to spend any more moments hovering above my life – glancing back at the past, or looking to what might be ahead. I want to sink in to my life in this very moment – to snuggle in deep and soak up all the love that is there for the taking. I want to remember that I don’t have to plan or organize every moment – and that somehow, life will go on anyway. I want to stop saving my favorite clothes, my days off, my good bath salts for ‘special’ times. I have never had a problem eating dessert first in a literal sense, but I want to remember to do that in a figurative sense too – to remember that once in a while it’s okay to have fun before crossing everything off the to do list. I want to remember that life is short and that it’s not mandatory or even helpful to take everything so seriously. And when I make mistakes, I’d like to get better about not dwelling on them – I want to learn my lessons, forgive myself, and move on.
There are a million different paths I could have taken in life, and twists and turns life still will show me – but this is where I am lucky enough to be right now, and I want to decorate this path with balloons and streamers and twinkling lights – to make every single moment a celebration of fun and joy and love. I don’t want to waste a single second. I’ve got 12 little pounds of perfection counting on me.
And as always, for my Mom, here is the complete album from Brendan’s 10th Week.