How to Appreciate Time with Your Kids

As time speeds up in life, I'm more and more cognizant of time's inevitable destruction. Thankfully, it's taught me the value of how to appreciate time with your kids.

For my part, I'm doing my best to slow it down.

Why Should You Appreciate Time with Your Kids?

You see, my boys are getting older and the day of their leaving the house looms large over my head. It sits in the back of my mind as I work, drive, or even when I'm sitting at home after a long day.

However, I don't see that moment as one to dread. (Though, I don't look forward to having the day when the house will become completely quiet. Okay, most of me doesn't look forward to that day.)

The moment they leave the house is true and right. It's a season that we all faced, and they will too. I'm good with that. I've made it my mission to prepare them for that day. And while it's far off, it's closer than is comfortable. Without that moment, you may even fail to appreciate time with your kids, because you'll mistakenly believe they'll always be there.

I look at my boys, who are eight and under, and see each of them as a bundle of time that is moving at warp speed.

Appreciate Time with Your Kids: It Won't Last Forever

Instead of looking ahead and always dreaming about the future (which we as men are apt to do), I've done my best to slow things down and appreciate each moment. After all, the day will come when they no longer ask me to read to them. One day in the future will be the last time I pick them up and carry them in my arms. At some point, it will be the last kiss goodnight. Some day, without warning, the time will come when they will no longer ask to play trucks, go outside to kick the soccer ball, or wrestle on the bed.

In other words: you better appreciate time with your kids. Because everything has an expiration date.

I don't begrudge the point at which those things come to an end, but I'm doing my best to stave off the inevitable.

For now, my biggest focus is to appreciate every single moment I have with these boys, even if they drive me up a wall. The crazy, insane nature of raising young kids can do wonders for gray hair, balding patterns, and twitching eyes (if you're desiring those sorts of things), but along with it is the vitality of still getting to be part child. It's the blessing of youth and an intimate relationship. It's the season of chaotic joy resounding throughout the house with blaring sirens and obnoxious yelling.

When I was a kid, I wanted to grow up so fast. I wanted to be the mature man in the room who knows how to handle every situation and can deal with any threat. But without care and focus, I can easily become that man who also has no grasp of the lighter side of life. How easy it is to fall into a curmudgeon attitude with no sense of humor or twinkle in my eye.

Childhood and a Stick of Chalk

Brilliant writer and Christian apologist GK Chesterton always carried some chalk in his pocket to ensure himself a moment of childhood to chase away the drudgery of adulthood.

My boys force me to take hold of the proverbial chalk every time I come home. As soon as I lie on the bed, they jump on my back. When I walk through the door, they run to me with books. At some point, my feet and ankles are subject to the surprise poundings of a plastic pedal car or runaway trike.

And that's the way I love it. My boys are a force of nature and a joy of life. They look at life with wide eyes, hungry for fun, and I pray I never dim that desire within them. If I'm not careful, the old, serious man in me can tromp through the door with a sour look and an impatient tone. If that man shows up, my children may try to crack the wall of my age, but they will quickly change course if not a laugh or a goofy grin is brought to the surface.

Do you want to appreciate time with your kids? Then beware the destructive mentality of the serious adult.

These boys keep me true to form and are a wrecking ball against any adult plans I may have. Be it work, dates, maintenance, or worse yet: naps. But that's good. They keep me on the straight path of being a squirrely, squiggily, wobbly kid who happens to wear size 36 pants.

Appreciate Time with Your Kids: It's Vital

So this is a tiny reminder: the world will have you believing that that phone call, email, or last bit of typing is the most important thing in the world. The rush of life will clamor for your attention, manipulating you into believing that the family can always wait till tomorrow. After all, the world tells you that the monotonous treadmill of life must always turn with your exhaustive efforts. The world does not want you to appreciate time with your kids. It wants you to forget them.

Meanwhile, your kids will look at you with expectant eyes as the clock of time methodically eats away at their youth. And if you're not careful, those eyes will shrink from wide and sparkling to narrow and dark. The laughter will dissipate, and the toys will sit collecting dust.

It's time to weigh your priorities carefully.

Make your decision wisely, and never forget that you need to choose to keep the chalk in your hand, or else it may just fall by the wayside and get crushed under the treading boot of life.

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