Do you know what today is in North America?
It’s not your birthday or anniversary. It’s not Valentine’s Day or Christmas or Easter. It’s not international cupcake day or the day to celebrate the creation of krazy glue.
There won’t be flashing signs in the stores pressuring you to buy chocolate or greeting cards today.
It’s because in the eyes of corporations across the world today is not special.
Today is just today.
Flowers for no reason whatsoever except for the fact that they were beautiful
But if you think about it, there’s no “just” about it.
Today is TODAY!
I think that you should celebrate that.
Because there are more days like today than there are holidays in the year.
Your kids will remember those big moments – the ones with the chocolates and the presents –
but they’ll also remember the days when you did none of that.
They’ll remember the days when you made the “regular” dinner they like or took a few minutes to hear about their day one more time; when you stayed up to help them study or put off homework for an ice cream treat instead.
because homework can wait.
How do I know this?
Firstly, I know because it’s what I remember: the endless slideshows in my family’s basement, listening to Led Zeppelin records in my brother’s room, trips to Sears where my mom let me call her by her first name (Do you know how many kids are shouting “mom” in that place?!?) , the times I went with my dad to work and met his colleagues. Those ordinary moments stuck.
And I also know it because my kids tell me; because they ask for family game nights and if they can be in the kitchen when we’re making dinner; because when they start their stories with “Mom, remember when…” the sentence never continues with “…you bought me.”
Never. Not once.
They play basketball under the watch of “Coach” dad and they love it.
They, like all of us, crave moments more than anything. Their earliest memories – shared with me in moments when I least expect them – are filled with times we spent together on an adventure or at home; times I made silly faces or cuddled on the couch; times we read a story together or puzzled over homework; times I surprised them by showing up at school to help with pizza lunch.
Time.
Time Together is all they ever really want. They just ask for it in different ways.
We’re in a lull here, people.
We’ve got a few good weeks until the Easter Egg madness begins to nag (even if they were on store shelves before the Valentine hearts were cleared).
Make use of it. Breathe. Slow Down. Celebrate the pause. Take the time to create a today memory just by being present.
Trust me: They’ll remember it long after the chocolate and presents are gone.
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