Shine Parenting Guru: The Gift of Time

I know how the holidays go for adults...on account of...I am one. And it seems like when you are a kid, the days until the holidays simply crawl. And for adults, the days until the holidays fly by. There is simply never enough time to accomplish all of our commitments.

There are always school concerts to attend. There are all the the extra demands on our time, like the baking, the extra cleaning for company, the endless activities. And while the time is meant to be fun, it's supposed enjoyable, it's designed as an opportunity to make memories. It's also a time that we tend to get so wrapped up meeting our obligations, doing and over-doing, that we miss it. We miss all of it. We miss those moments that matter.

If I could but give one gift to my mother, it would be time. She was notorious for bending herself into a pretzel over the holidays. I'm convinced that she missed most of them. She was in the kitchen baking and cooking. She was running around like a machine cleaning. She rarely had a minute to sit and relax, to kick back and enjoy.

Now, as she is aging, and the demands on her time should be fewer, I know that I can't give her back all those missed years with her children, the time she lost enjoying her parents, but I would love for her to have the time to relax and enjoy her grandchildren. It may take some time to re-train her. My mother is driven. She's a perfectionist. Our holidays were pretty amazing. Still, there are some things you can never get back, never have more of...and one of those things is time.

When Nicki isn't looking for ways to manufacture time, she can be found blogging at Suddenly Single Journey and What Dreamers Do. Her books are available on Amazon.