Time is a gift | Breezy turns 2

This morning while it was still dark outside, we plopped a candle in Brielle’s yogurt and sang happy birthday to her. I had a friend ask this week if I was sad that my baby was turning 2. “Nope,” I told her. And then I jokingly added, “Is that bad?”

Rather than being sad about my kids growing up, I try to take the approach that time is a gift and I can’t wait to see where they go next. I often see the sentiment on social media that time is a thief and gosh, this is one that really makes me stop in my tracks.

I’m big into the idea that everything is how you look at it and I’m a realist much more often than I am an optimist. But seriously, if we stop and examine it, doesn’t time give us a lot more than it takes from us? And if we’re telling our minds that time is a thief, we start to believe it.

And the same is true when we tell our minds that time is a gift — we actually start to believe it. Time gives us a chance to look back and reminisce. Time gives us the ability to be a smarter, wiser version of ourselves. Time gives us new experiences to reflect on. Time gives us laughter and tears and busy mornings and wins and losses and deepened friendships. And maybe most importantly, time gives us the chance to be a brand new person.

Or in this case, raise a brand new person. Brielle from March 28, 2023 was a few hours old and we knew virtually nothing about her. (Ok, we knew she was stubborn before she ever made her entrance into this world and we quickly learned that she’s loud.) But today, we get to enjoy the way her little booty shakes when she runs, and the little voice that tells us, “Breezy don’t like it.” We get to read The Belly Button Book to her every day. We get to put her shoes on her 283409238 because she takes them off every time we’re in the car and we’re in the car a lot.

Time is a gift.

Where do I need to apply that to my life so I can see growth? I need to remember that time is a gift when bedtime is near, little people still have laundry to put away and 32840928 questions to ask before their door is closed. I need to remember that time is a gift when they’re arguing and they all need something at the same time… and the pasta is boiling and the phone is ringing. And maybe most of all, I need to remember that time is a gift when they take forever to get in the car, clean up their snack, or countless other tasks that seem to take them 3x the amount of time I would like for them to spend on it.

→ Where do you need to take a deep breath and remember that time is a gift?