Why Always in a Hurry?

Have you ever noticed how we are always in a hurry. In a hurry to get the kids ready for school. In a hurry to get to work. In a hurry to get done with work so we can get home to our families. Then when we get there, we are in a hurry to get supper on the table, get the homework done, get the kids bathed and off to bed. We rush through the time when our kids are growing up to the point where we wake up one day and they are all grown. Is it a cultural thing? Is our country always in such a hurry that we don't know how to relax and enjoy the time we have with our families? In this game show that is life, why do we speed round our children's childhoods?

Is that why being a grandparent is so much more fun? We don't have to rush from here to there. Soccer practice is the parents responsibility. Baseball games and softball games are no longer an obligation but now a joy. I mean I loved going to my children's activities, but there were always so many of them. Let's face it you can't be in Adair, Des Moines, and Van Meter all in one night. As a parent when you have to choose to be in one place when two of your other children are off in another, you feel like you are short changing someone. It is hard to completely enjoy one thing when you feel guilty about not being at another. I'm sure one day I will still have to choose between things again, but as a grandparent I can rotate evenly. Not have to pick one over the other based on transportation issues.

I really enjoy getting to slow down and go at Kahlen's pace. I can sit and roll a ball back and forth with her for as long as she thinks it is fun with out worrying about what else I should be doing. We can go out into the back yard and smell the flowers and the herbs growing in the garden, just because we want to. Grandpa can sit out by the pond with her and feed the fish til the sun goes down. It just seems so much calmer. Maybe that will change as she grows and gets into soccer and softball and whatever else. I think (or at least hope) it will be different. The day to day rush, rush will be Alyssa and Shane's responsibility. Gramma and Grandpa, we can sit back, relax and enjoy each moment. (and maybe giggle a little to each other as we watch the next generation raise their children.)