It wasn’t that long ago…and you didn’t fully appreciate it while you were in it, but then it hits you. You see someone carrying a sleeping kid in their arms. You see a gaggle of little ones trailing their parents like ducks. You find some clothes that don’t fit them anymore.
That wave of nostalgia hits you. Where did that kid go? What you’d give to go back to those simpler, yet crazier, times.
On a recent podcast, comedian Bert Kreischer was talking with Pete Holmes (both of whom you can listen to on the Daily Stoic podcast—check out Bert’s episode here and Pete’s episode here) and Bert was emotional. He had walked into Holmes’s bathroom and seen two little stools with names on them. The kind toddlers use to reach the sink. He hadn’t seen those in his own home in twelve years.
“I would give it all,” he said. He’d give it all to be back in a house like that, with kids that young.
Those years feel exhausting when you’re in them. Loud. Sticky. Chaotic. You count down the minutes to bedtime. You look forward to it being quiet. You tell yourself that, one day, things will calm down.
And then one day, they do. The house gets quiet. Those little stools disappear. The chaos organizes itself into independence. Now, you miss what you just rushed through.
As we’ve said, you’re living in moments right now that your future self will ache for. That other parents are jealous of. You can’t slow it down. You can’t freeze this season of life. But you can be here now. You can put the phone down. Stay a little longer at bedtime. Say yes to one more story. Because one day you’ll walk into a quiet house, see something small that used to matter, and think the same thing Bert did:
“I would give it all.”
P.S. The days are long. The years are short. Every parent knows this—and every parent looks back and wishes they wrote down more. These precious times in our children’s lives can slip away too quickly if we don’t stop to intentionally reflect on them.
Record just one line, one memory, one thought, or one special moment a day with the Daily Dad Five-Year Reflection Journal. It was created to capture a record of your parenthood, your kids’ childhood, and their (and your) growth on this amazing journey.
The beautiful, leatherbound Daily Dad Five-Year Reflection Journal contains prompts to help you reflect on and write about each day. When you’ve filled it out, not only will you have an incredible record of your and your kids’ lives, but you’ll have a beautiful keepsake to pass down.
Get your Daily Dad Five-Year Reflection Journal.
