being present in the moment

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As you can imagine, life with four kids is BUSY! I spend a lot of time just cleaning up the house, preparing meals, cleaning up after meals, driving to and fro, checking homework, doing laundry, and making sure bedtime happens! Whew! Just typing all that out made me ready for a nap! And that’s just a small part of keeping this family running! I’m sure many of you can relate!

But recently I’ve realized that even though I’m doing SO much for my kids, that’s not necessarily what they need. What they really want and need is for me to slow down and just listen. And honestly, that’s hard for me to do. If they come up to me with their latest lego creation while I’m doing the dishes, I SO badly want to just finish what I’m doing first and then take a look. But lately, as I’ve been praying to have a better idea of what each individual child needs, I’ve been able to sense when they need a little more of me.

I’ve especially felt this lately with Milo. He and I probably spend the most time together, but even still, I’ve noticed him getting a little more cranky than usual. I’ve also noticed that when he typically has quiet time in his room, he instead, comes to sit next to me on the couch or the bed. I realized that he just wanted to be close to me. He just wanted me to really get down and talk to him, and enjoy him.

So last week, as I tried to be extra intentional with our time together, we went on a hiking adventure! I ran down the trails of crunchy leaves with him, and I engaged with him in his imaginary “adventurer” world. His smiled reached from ear to ear the entire time and now I know that slowing down is sometimes what they need more than a clean kitchen or folded clothes.

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I also talked about Being Present In The Moment Here

& there’s a video I created about it Here!

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about being more present with my kids. I brought it up in a recent Instagram post. I’ve noticed in myself, and in so many around me, this need to constantly be connected. Nowadays, it’s really no secret that social media can be addicting. The problem for me came when I realized that maybe I was one of those people that was addicted. I like to think that I’m aware of how often I pull out my phone to scroll Instagram or check my email, but I could be doing SO MUCH BETTER. I know you can probably relate. I want my children to have memories of me being with them, playing, and being available to answer their many questions. And for myself, I want to be more present in all of those moments so that I can enjoy life more.

To be honest, I love Instagram. (Who doesn’t!?) I love posting pretty photos, the encouraging comments I receive, and the supportive community of other moms/creatives I’ve found. But I often turn to social media when I’m feeling bored. I like being creative and lately I’ve been scrolling Instagram for inspiration. But what I’ve found is that I’m doing more consuming than creating. And more and more often, I come away feeling discontent and insignificant.

Deep down, I know that I have creativity that is worth sharing and a life that is worth every bit of my attention and enjoyment. So I’ve made a plan to do a little less consuming and a little more creating. I’m going to make more of an effort to be fully THERE as a mother.

Last Friday as I was thinking about all of this, I decided to put my phone and computer away for the day and pull out my camera instead. I enjoyed so many beautiful and fun every day moments with my kids and I was able to be creative while doing it. Afternoons at home are often the hardest part of my day. It’s easy for me to get in a funk of feeling bored and uninspired. I can’t tell you how good it was for my soul to force myself to look for the inspiring moments where I wouldn’t usually see them. I ended up with a little video of our afternoon. I found special details in a completely normal day as Lucy woke up from her nap and figured out how to make sounds with a recorder, as Owen and Milo built a couch-fort, and Ande built an epic Lego parking garage. It made going out on a date that night feel great because I knew I had soaked up some good quality time with the babes beforehand. And now, with this video, I can enjoy those moments over and over again.

The video I worked on is below, and I hope you’ll follow along with my little journey through motherhood by subscribing to our channel while you’re there!

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For our date night in the video, I wore my favorite lace midi dress! I got it from H&M a few years ago, and altered the sleeves from long sleeved to short! I looked for a similar lace dress to share and listed a few cute ones below!