The strangeness of time and trains

Someone once told me that life with small children can be summed up by saying that the days are long and the years are short. I often think of this, as I look at my nearly three year old I gasp at how big he seems and and for Nano, I am permanently in shock that he is now eight months old, always asking, how did that happen?

I read the most brilliant piece on motherhood this week, if you have five minutes please give it a read. I promise it will lift your day and will stay with you long after the laptop has been shut down. The upshot of it was, that there are two kinds of time when you are parenting. Chronos time, which is real, often laborious, seemingly never-ending child wrangling time and the other is Kairos time. This is those moments that are outside of normal time, that stand out and are fleeting, but precious. It resonated with me and I have begun to notice those Kairos moments ever since, but they are easily forgotten again and at the end of the day I am more likely to survey the chaos or relay to Mckdaddy tales of tantrums and shouting.

That's sad, don't you think?

I am going to try harder to remember those moments, the things that make me stop and smile. The things about my children that are so in the now, they will be lost as they grow and change and I have the perfect place to record these moments. So, here is one from this week.

I am in the dining room, doing something with Nano. I can't remember what it is, even though it was only days ago, but it involved kneeling on the floor. Mini Mck is bumbling about around us.

Suddenly I hear "Look, Mummy! Look, Nano! I made a train with yots (lots) of cad-geez (carriages)"

Yes, my darling boy, you certainly did.

A train of flotsom & jetsom

I am linking this post to Chris's 'Things they say' feature. An opportunity to cherish those little things. Click the link for some more joyful moments.