I DON'T DO TEENAGERS â—½ HOME
I hear so often from young moms and older moms alike, “Time flies by so fast.” Young moms on social media show their babies going off to kindergarten and comment, “I am unwell,” indicating they cannot believe their infant is now in school. I remember when I was teaching a student came to me and said, “Mrs. Lytle, is the earth spinning faster?” And I quite think it might be!
I was thinking about how all of life is in a hurry, and how fast the weeks fly past, and how quickly teens grow up and leave the house. However, I know that while parents are in the throes of parenting those said teens, moms and dads feel like those years drone on and drain the bank account! But with this hurried world we live in, where parents send children to daycare before they can walk, kids are in competitive sports before they understand the game, and teens are behind the wheel way before they’re ready, we all need a reminder of the dangers of being in a hurry.
Practically speaking, here are a few pitfalls of hurrying, just in everyday life:
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Hurrying causes trips and falls, because we’re not looking where we’re going.
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Hurrying makes us forget things we really need, and show up without the important.
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Hurrying results in missing the beauty, wonder and pause that comes from resting.
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Hurrying while eating can cause an upset stomach and long-term issues.
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Hurrying when driving can cause injury and death if we’re not quickly slowed down.
We all know those things in that list but yet we still hurry. Parents have to hurry and get dinner on the table so kids can get out the door to practices. Moms and dads are hurrying home to make events, and hurrying with their work so they can be present when they do get home.
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So…how do we slow down with our teens, as we raise them and care for them in this fast-paced world that we are all caged inside? Here are some reminders:
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Our teens will not be behind if we wait on driving and dating. There’s no hurry to do either.
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Our teens don’t gain anything from watching us spin on the hamster wheel. Nothing.
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Our teens scarfing down food will never enjoy the beauty of the dinner table at leisure.
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Our teens on the run here and there will then drive as if they’re in a race, and they’re not.
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Our teens will miss the joy in life of sunsets and fall leaves if they’re too exhausted to notice.
That being said, it’s not easy getting off the hamster wheel, and keeping that wheel out of sight of our kids. We can start by not comparing our teens with others, letting go of the strife of making our teens successful human beings by the time they’re of a certain age, and learning to slow down and breathe against His chest as we listen for His voice of how to find those still waters He leads us to lay beside…
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Life got you in a hurry all the time, with the kids in tow, and schedules filled and running over? Ask, and you shall receive, little steps you can learn to take instead of hurried steps that cause injuries from falls. And all it might require is stopping to consider the beauty of the rhythm of the 24-hour days we’ve given to observe and enjoy, with our kids, while we still have them at home.