Leave work, run to the bank and grocery store, crap – I need to go to the gas station too, get home and put the brownies in the oven – crap, I’m out of canola oil, call a friend to borrow canola oil, get the eggs boiled to put on salad… I have more days like this than I care to admit.  And these are the days when my kids don’t stand a chance.  I’m in a hurry and multi-tasking more than I probably should, and any slight interruption sends me over the edge.  Those slight interruptions weigh 30-48 pounds, and call me “momma”.

Every once in a while I’m certain I hear God speak to me, and that day it happened again.  “Just slow down”.  Will my friend be mad if we’re 10-ish minutes late to supper?  No.  Will she be mad because I bring the brownies uncooked in a pan and need to stick them in her oven?  No.  So just slow down.  Let the kids interrupt.  Let them help in the kitchen.  Let your children feel like they’re more important than whatever chore you’re doing at the moment.  This can be so very hard, considering the long list of chores I need to do in any given day.  But.  Chad won’t leave me if the laundry isn’t done, or supper’s not on the table by 6.  My friends won’t leave me if I’m late to supper.  Just slow down.  Love on the kids, make memories, grow them into adults who love God and His children.  If checking off the list makes me too busy to notice my children, then forget the list.  If having empty laundry baskets makes my children feel less important than my list, then forget the list.

Forget the list, remember to love on your children.