21 Ways to Savor your Children While You Still Have Them

It’s true what they say, that time flies by! My two boys will be grown in a blink of an eye, and they’ll only be here at home for a short while. Although they’ll always be mine, there will come a point where they don’t need anything from me. They’ll outgrow my lap and eventually they’ll never truly fit there again.

I sit here reminding myself that I need to be here with them now. In the present. The though of a time that is to come where I’m not longer needed, breaks my heart.

I only get to experience motherhood once, and I’m going to own it and make the most of it now.

Here is a list of ways to savor your kids while you still have them around.

1. Watch them sleep, and maybe catch some sleep with them
2. Breath them in after their bath.
3. Record the things your child says, cute, funny or other. You can relive those words forever. I keep a journal with the things my kids say.
4. Be silly together. Sing at the top of your lungs to your favorite tunes. Currently, my four year old is obsessed with The Greatest Showman soundtrack.
5. Catch some morning cartoons in either your bed or in your little one’s bed.
6. Fill your home with photos of your kids.
7. Capture milestones with a camera or pen and paper. You can cherish those forever.
8. When they’re hurting, try to really understand. Remember an instance and time when you experienced something similar and remember the way you felt. This will help you to better understand what they’re dealing with and help them through it.
9. Get familiar with the time lapse feature and record a meal or play session. Looking at it later will help you truly appreciate and embrace the chaos.
10. Read to them. Snuggle up in their bed and take the moment and those words in together.
11. Watch their little minds tick. When they’re fully engaged in something, watch them, and take it in. I love watching my oldest play with his toys. His imagination, play voices and demeanor amaze me.
12. Get rid of mom guilt. Enjoy the moments, good or bad.
13. Share childhood memories if yours with your kids. Share with them memories, favorite toys, traditions and more!
14. Establish distraction-free blocks of times throughout the week. Put away those phones, turn off the TV’s and close that laptop. Reconnect without distraction.
15. Take more videos! Make sure to back them up too. I love getting little Facebook memories in the form of videos of my boys when they were younger. Seriously melts my heart.
16. When you pack away outgrown clothes, take a minute to remember them in those clothes. There are certain outfits I will never forget because of the memories made while being worn.
17. Leave little notes for your kids throughout the week.
18. Start a journal that you have with each of your kids. Let them know that whatever is within those pages are between the two of you. Let them express their frustrations, their joys and everything in between.
19. Listen to your child. Sure, it might be annoying to listen to your child tell a story that could have taken 1 minute but instead it was stretched out to 10, but let their little minds get out their story without being rushed. They will appreciate those extra minutes of your patience and attentiveness more than you can imagine.
20. Build in free space in your calendar where you don’t have to be rushed. This time will allow you to reconnect throughout a busy week.
21. Do something new with them as often as possible.

This is your motherhood. Own it. You only get to do it once, so make it worth it.