Today I received a note from a beautifully pregnant friend whose body is so ready to have this next child. She works hard and loves her family – and she is also tired. It’s an awesome note. What is our only job in life? Isn’t it to love? How can we help each other remember that everyday, despite how busy we all are? Thanks for the reminder, KateBear.
– Susan, Chief Flagologist
“This morning I had a little extra time to lie in bed and cuddle with my sweet daughter. She is barely five years old, and when she crawled into bed with me before the sun came up, she whispered, “Mama, it’s your KateBear … Can we snuggle, pleeeeeeeeeeeaase?”
As comfortable as I was facing the other side of the room, she had melted my heart, so I turned over, wrapped my arms around her and held that sweet thing for another 20 minutes. She and I both relaxed into a little deeper breathing and kept one another warm.
You see, each night before bed, Kate asks me to come to her room and snuggle. In the evenings, I am always too tired or too busy, or ready for some grown up time after the kids go to bed. I usually say no. But the way she wrapped her arms around me this morning and pleaded for snuggle time left me thinking about just how much she wants her Mama’s affection … and undivided attention.
As I lied there savoring every moment and hoping it would last all day, I wondered this, “What if my only “job” was to love my family?” What if my goal for each day was to do everything I can to make each member of my family feel loved and attended to?
And as I reflect on that possibility, I come to realize – Goodness – that IS my job. That’s my first job. That’s my most important job. My significant other and my sweet, beautiful kids are my first priority.
I don’t know about you, but I am completely guilty of giving them leftovers. My consulting business takes a lot out of me – I dream about client projects and creative ideas. I wake early to write strategies and have back-to-back phone calls all day to consult, guide, teach, train, help. I am a problem solver, for others. And at the end of the day, when my family gets home, I often have very little left. I don’t want to snuggle upstairs, or do homework, or go outside and play basketball. I don’t want to cook dinner and do dishes and get baths started. By 6pm, I start another marathon part of my day – feed the kids and get them in bed – as quickly as I can – so I can sit down, relax, read, watch a show, work some more or go to bed.
But this morning, holding my sweet girl and realizing all she wants is me – my affection, my love – time with me – I realized I have so much more to give my little family. My love, my presence, my attention – it should be their’s first! In the big picture of things – that IS my only job – to love my family. Nothing else matters, nothing else is significant. “
