Smelling the roses!

Since becoming a father, I've noticed that time goes by ridiculously fast. In some way, that's a great thing - the time in between paydays doesn't feel so long. Weekends are over and then they suddenly sneak up and appear again. Even watched pots boil!

I've also noticed a few drawbacks to time going quickly.

It seems I just blink, and Madelyn's got a new vocabulary. A new shirt. Molars. A new food she won't try.

There also never seems to be enough time to get all the cleaning done. The sidewalk needs shoveling. Food needs cooking. Buses need riding. Work needs 8 hours of my time. I'm not a superhuman dad either, and naturally I get a bit stressed and rushed at times. The last couple of days have been like this for me.

Tonight, I got Madelyn bathed while Cat cleaned the food Madelyn didn't get into her mouth off the ceiling. After we got her ready for bed, Cat kissed her goodnight and turned off the lights. In the dark room, I gave Madelyn a quick kiss and a little hug.

As I lowered her into her crib, she hugged me back.

She's done this numerous times before, but this time, it stopped me in my tracks.

We spent the next 5 minutes just snuggling. I forgot about all the chores, all the sleep I needed to catch up on, and what the score was in the Senators game I was missing.

Knowing full well that tomorrow, she'd be another day older, wiser, smarter and stronger, I cherished every second of that snuggle. I knew it was a moment I'd remember for the rest of my life, and it actually kinda broke my heart to realize that I was in control of when it was going to end.

As her eyes started to close, I reluctantly placed her and her teddy bear down into the crib.

I compensated my momentary heartbreak by looking on the bright side at the lesson I'd learned. No matter how busy, exhausted, or hectic our lives get, we've got the power to just let go of all that extraneous stuff.

The power to stop and 'smell the roses' lies in our hands.

Sometimes we just need to be reminded.

PS. I'm also reminded that I need to start blogging here more often. Looking back at the last year, this blog has helped spark a lot of memories!