Hello friends! I don’t know about you but… summer days with the kids home are going by way to fast! Being a working mama I feel like I have more on my to do list than there are hours in the day. Someone please send HELP!! Trying to get everything done and still spending quality time with the kiddos and hubs can be challenging. Sometimes I have a hard time shutting off. Life goes by so quickly and our littles are growing up so fast that all of these moments we get to spend with them are so precious. So, I wanted to write about being present and really cherishing the moments we get to spend with our children and the people we love. Because it is so important. I like to call these moments GEMS. Genuine encountered Moments. I learned about this in a parenting class I took a few years back.
I’ve opened up about this before…but I get really sad when I catch a glimpse of my kids so grown up. Can you relate? I know it’s all good and positive and we are so grateful for our health and happiness. But sometimes I just get sad about it. Time is a strange thing. I think we can all benefit from disconnecting from social media and reconnecting with what is in front of us. So, here are a few things I have been trying to be more conscious of and, how I stay present with my favorite tiny humans!
D I S C O N N E C T A N D B E P R E S E N T
I try to consciously disconnect whenever I am spending time with my kids. I also try to just be in the moment, appreciating what’s going on around me, and make small moments meaningful. When I’m at the traffic stop light, I look around. I notice the beautiful tree across the street and ask my kids “look how beautiful that tree is”. So random I know…lol. Also just being there is not enough. In order to be present I remove distractions. Try leaving your Phone in another room or put it on silent. I choose to not pick it up until we are done with what we were doing. To all my friends that text me and I don’t reply for a while I apologize….because I turn my phone on DND I miss notifications unless I check them manually. Also, turn off your computer so you don’t hear incoming email alerts. TIP: Instead of turning computer off I just turn the volume on silent so I don’t hear the ding. You can’t be fully engaged if you are constantly looking for or are on your phone. So, I eliminate the temptation because you miss too much life when looking through a screen. #guilty
B E C O N S I S T E N T
I think its important to have rules for everyone in the family not just the kids. We are saturated with technology, yet we continue to invite it to the dinner table. So a good place to start I think would be dinner time. Have a routine and a no technology rule is key. This time is so special for the whole family to catch up. To find out how hubby’s day went, what the kids learned at school, and to hear all of the funny things that happened during the day. One of our favorite things to do at dinner time is go around and ask “what are the 3 best things that happened that day”. Honestly, it is so nice knowing that no matter how much we all have going on that there’s always a solid hour where we can come together and are completely present allowing no distractions. Tomorrows work will still be there and worrying about it won’t accomplish anything. But soaking in your family will make you smile for years to come.
S T A Y O R G A N I Z E D
This may seem off topic but…if you plan out your day with purpose your work won’t spill into your family time. As a blogger and stay at home momma it is really easy to let the work that I love so much sneak into my family time. Take a few minutes in the morning to plan your day. Get the biggest thing out of the way first and stay on task throughout the day. If you get things done in the time you give yourself it is easier to disconnect and to be present with your family. Not only that but you will be happier, less stressed and more fun to be around.
P L A N S I M P L E D A T E S
Some of my favorite childhood memories were some of the simplest moments at the time. Like grabbing KFC drive thru dinner after piano lessons, camping in the rain with my dad and roasting marshmallows through our tent, watching beauty pageants with my mom and voting who should win..lol, mani and spa day with my mama. So basically you don’t always have to go big to have a special moment that will always be remembered. Recently, I invited my daughter to have a “Spa Day” with me. I used some cute candles and set out all the fun goodies like a tub for a pedicure, bath bombs, Nail Polish ,etc. (btw… this Nail polish is my new fave it looks like gel and stays on for so long…see here Mani/Pedi kit) and I also got these really fun face masks and Brown sugar lip scrubs. I tried to make it super special. We wore matching robes that we got from our trip up to Mammoth! I added flower petals in the pedicure soaking tub and she thought is was such a cute touch. Then we painted our nails with matching polish…you get the idea. It was only an hour out of the day but so special and so fun. GEMS for the win!!
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.”
— Ferris Bueller
Thanks for reading the blog today! I hope you find some of it helpful next time you are making memories with the ones you love!
xx,
P.s. A big thank you to Walmart for partnering on this post! Everything I share, as always, are my own thoughts and opinions.
