Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Thirteen Months and a New Perspective on Time

My blog has gone by the wayside; I have been enjoying the evolution of a little boy. A little boy who is no longer a baby, but a toddler. He turned 13 months on Friday and I am still in denial that so much time has passed. He is running around the house, playing, singing, dancing, talking up a storm (much of it gibberish, but more real words than I thought possible), exploring, investigating, and discovering. It is a delight to experience the world in a new way, seeing it through his perspective. Everything he encounters is new. And, it is exciting.

I am finally getting into my working-mom groove. Not that I don't encounter challenges, but I am becoming more adept at facing them head on. I can change a dirty diaper with deft skill, dress a wiggling body with the coordination of a rodeo champion and have my little guy fed, dressed and in his car seat in 30 minutes (sometime less). With our little guy walking, the biggest difficulty lately is watching him maneuver around furniture, walls, anything. His teetering steps with which he executes confidently always seem to be on the brink of, "timber!" He is gaining balance and coordination every day, but I still have moments where I gasp.

It isn't easy being a mom, but thrilling adventures seldom are a piece of cake. And, this truly is one of my greatest adventures. Every day is a new wonder, a new joy, a new accomplishment (for him and me). All of the things I relished before this little man came into my life seem rather pedestrian and ordinary. Time is no longer the commodity it once was.

I think about all of the extra time I had before we had the little dragon...I thought I was busy, but in fact, I wasted a lot of time too (watching TV, going to the movies, languidly reading away an entire day). I could have used that time to solve global warming or bring world peace (okay, maybe a bit too much, but you get the idea).

With all of the commitments before to boards, committees, volunteering projects, and more (and all for good causes)...the time I spend with my son gives me more happiness and fulfillment than I could ever imagine. Do I miss some of the things I used to do outside of work and home? Yes, at times. But, I will certainly be more mindful of how I commit my time in the future.

Time is much more precious. Something has to be pretty important to me if it is going to take me away from my new adventure of being a mom.