Pillows and ponies; what do those two things have in common you ask? Well, let me tell you. Many of you know that my baby, my youngest, my last, and my only daughter turned two just recently. She is a much loved and very spoiled little girl and as such she had a big party with all of her friends and family. Lots of people means lots of presents…way more than any two year old probably needs, but she was so excited and loved it all. (She actually got up the following morning asking “party?” because she wanted to do it again!).
Anyway, over the past few weeks I’ve been watching her play with all of her new treasures (better described as making a freaking mess in my living room). Beside her kitchen set, one of her favorite items is her new Barbie dune buggy. (Yes extremely obnoxious for a 2 year old, did I mention she’s spoiled?) However, she is a bit small to operate said dune buggy correctly so to fix the problem, we put some pillows behind her in the seat. So now she can reach the pedals and all she does is drive this buggy into my feet, furniture, the dogs, cat, brother, and anything else in her way.
The other day she ran over my foot pretty good and I’m certain my shins will have a black bruise across them from now until forever so I was admittedly irritated and ready to yank the battery out of that stupid car! Although I can’t remember now what it was, I’m sure I was doing something super important and couldn’t be bothered. At that moment though, I looked down and in the passenger seat she had her two stuffed My Little Ponies and she just looked so small with those pillows stuffed behind her and I couldn’t be mad….I just thought that never again will she be this small and in not too long, those pillows and ponies will go away and that Barbie dune buggy will be a real car. One day she will pull out of the driveway on the way to her own house to cook dinner in her own kitchen instead of the plastic one in my living room. Someday in the not distant enough future I will be wishing that I had spent more time adjusting those pillows, rescuing those damn ponies from the dog, and that maybe I could get my feet run over just one more time.
I guess the moral of my story is that while we are all so busy with the obligations and duties that are life, we get frustrated when maybe we shouldn’t, we put off play time for more work, and we don’t pay attention to everything we should. I know we all mean well; I am one of the busiest people I know and everything I do is to try and make things better for my family and my kids, so trust me I get it and I am definitely not judging. But we have got to remind ourselves to take some time to enjoy the things that aren’t going to be around forever. I am also one of the biggest offenders when it comes to not taking enough time-outs. So if nothing else, I just want to leave today with a reminder to you and to myself to be sure and stop for a minute every now and then, forget that load of laundry, that blog post can wait till later, maybe even a sick day at work is in order, and just take the time hang out with some pillows and ponies. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.
Irene Soh says
January 5, 2014 at 1:49 pmI totally agree about putting time aside to hug our little babies! They grow up way too soon for us to realised it!
Rebekah says
January 5, 2014 at 1:50 pmSuch a great reminder – especially at this time of the year, with all the new stuff from Christmas. They won’t be this age/size/into these same exact things, ever again. Let’s enjoy them while we have them!
kelli says
January 5, 2014 at 1:54 pmAlison, LOVE this post! I’ve got 4 kids and I am constantly telling myself this. Time to get off the computer and spend time with the kids. 🙂
Thanks for a great post!
Lisa Trudell says
January 5, 2014 at 2:02 pmI think that will be my motto for while, don’t forget the pillows and ponies. It’s one of those things that you can keep in the back of your mind. Thanks for the reminder to take the moments in.
Elizabeth (Rock-A-Bye Parents) says
January 11, 2014 at 8:05 amIt’s so hard sometimes to remember how precious time with our little ones is. We get so busy with all that we have to do that we don’t realize that time is just floating away. I have to remind myself sometimes that I need to play with my two year old too. Thanks for linking up at Rock-A-Bye Parents Parenting Pointers linky party.