To add to my general sense of urgency, I had a meeting tonight for church at seven, for which I needed to leave around six-thirty or so. I also had a homework assignment for myself due (I'm taking a writing class). I mention this so you will know that I was in a hurry. I had been hurrying people all afternoon.
I have one child (my oldest) who is like me. He has a list of things to do and he works on them quickly and efficiently, for the most part. When I rush him, he usually just says, "Oh yeah, sorry," and gets right on it.
My second child is not like my first. She is always fiddling around, always playing, and consequently, always happy. She takes ten minutes to do something I could do in thirty seconds, but she always has a smile on her face. Tonight, I had just finished helping her with her homework, and I asked her to unload the dishwasher. (Her chore, but she hadn't done it in the morning because she dilly dallied so long before school she ran out of time.)
She danced her way over the kitchen, and opened the dishwasher. Then she stopped, and came dancing around the other direction. I took in a big breath of air to yell at her to get a move on when I heard her say, "I'm just going to smell these beautiful flowers dad got you before I unload."
Part of me was annoyed. I wanted to yell, "SMELL THE FLOWERS LATER! UNLOAD THE DISHES NOW!"
But a larger part of me remembered a cliched phrase. "Don't forget to stop and smell the roses." It really hit me hard, mothers around the world (and fathers, too.) Sometimes we get so caught up in our deadlines (real or self imposed) that we lose sight of finding the joy in life. Dora is not the fastest child. She isn't the most efficient, but she is my happiest child, and there is a reason for that. She always makes time for the things that bring her happiness.
My message for you tonight is so simple: before you do the dishes, stop and smell the beautiful flowers. They won't last, but your happiness will, if you don't get too caught up in the things that don't matter.
