These hands will hold in our hearts forever – Herrons 2014
Okay…I am writing this (late at night) in a super emotional state, so I’m warning you and apologizing to you ahead of time. Why am I so emotional?? Well, I’m so glad you asked! So, I was just laying with my daughter, Reese, since she was having a hard time falling asleep. I went in to lay with her after her calling out to me multiple times. I’m not gonna lie. I was busy working on something (a totally different blog post) and I felt a bit annoyed that I needed to stop what I was doing and go lay there with her, probably until she fell asleep. I mean, she was supposed to already be asleep and this was my time to get my work done, right?? Yeah…those were my initial feelings. It’s easy to feel like that when it feels like there aren’t enough hours in a day to do it all. #momlife
So…here’s where I got emotional. I walked in and saw her sweet face looking at me. Just full of love. Here she is eight years old, just waiting for me. ME. I immediately felt like the luckiest person in the world. I’m so serious right now. I did. I felt this rush of gratefulness. As I laid next to her…she just held me tight. She looked up at me…and, get ready for this….she said “mommy, I just love you so much and you mean everything in the world to me and I don’t know what I would do without you and you’re just so special to me”. Yep. That was word-for-word.😭 I looked at my sweet girl (her eyes filled with tears) and assured her that I loved her even more and she meant the world to me as well. She laid peacefully next to me and we snuggled. I could hear alerts on my phone and even though I felt the urge to look, I didn’t. I turned my phone off and just laid there with her. We talked for a little bit more and I just looked at my sweet girl’s angel face in complete awe. How could she be so perfect? I mean…my boys and I are super close too. But this was just EXTRA. And I was all for it. I felt at that moment that I don’t want to take these moments for granted. EVER. I’m going to cherish every single hug and quiet moment. Phoneless. I mean…I’ve been guilty of sitting with her and trying to hide my phone so she can’t see it. Every mom does it. Why? Because we feel guilty about looking at our phones while trying to spend time with our kids. Why are we looking at our phones so much? Are we afraid we’re going to miss something…like an important tweet? or a instagram comment? Sometimes (a lot of times) we need reminders about what’s truly important. I think we all know what’s important but we need to be reminded about how to be intentional about living in the moment.
What do I mean by intentional? I mean be purposeful. Make thoughtful choices in your life. Actively interact and engage in your life. Respond instead of react. Love instead of judge. Embrace instead of expect. Try to wake up every morning and ask yourself how you’re going to make today great.
This is something that’s been so heavy on my heart lately. Our kids grow up so fast and I want to make sure to treasure the precious moments with them. Don’t you ever wish you could freeze time?? Josh and I always joke that if we could pick any super power to have, it would be the ability to freeze time. #truth. Now that would mean we could freeze time for everyone else, but anyone we touch could be in the present with us. Hahaha! Wouldn’t that be amazing??! Seriously, just think of all you could get done without the feeling of guilt that time is slipping away! Think of all the deadlines you could just pause and live freely with those you love. Idk…maybe it’s boring…but it would for sure be my number one pick for a super power! Too bad that would never be possible. I mean…let’s be real. Life can get really crazy busy for parents. So many complain about going through the motions at home and at work, checking off one task after another, running the kids to all their activities, taking care of each child’s individual needs until it’s time to fall into bed exhausted only to get up the next morning to drag yourself out of bed to do it all over again. Although a super power would come in handy here…all we can do is slow down our days and learn to treasure the moments we do have.
Want to slow down but not sure how? Here are some tips that seem to work for me (most of the time because hey I’m not perfect).
Be thankful everyday – Many of you have heard me talk about the gratitude video that I watch daily. (Ok…try to watch daily) It’s called Gratitude: The Short Film by Louie Schwartzberg. If you’ve never watched it, you need to. It’s absolutely necessary in my opinion. His message is to open your heart and feel grateful for this day, the beauty of this planet, the people we meet. It’s a short, but powerful video. Please do yourself and those around you a favor, go watch it here.
Write in your journal or planner – My friend Keri likes the idea of recording moments you’re grateful for in a journal. I think this is a great idea! You could even jot them down in a special section of your planner if you have one already. Or if you’re a tech-junkie, there are numerous apps that allow you to record all your grateful-ness!
Disconnect from technology – Okay…don’t attack me! LOL. I simply mean turn off your phone, the computer, the tv just for a little while. They can be so distracting that sometimes we don’t notice the simple things. Oh…and if your child ever just wants to spend time with you…jump at the chance. Do it. Turn off your phone (or at least just put it somewhere you can’t hear or see it) and then go be with your child. Even if it’s to talk. Actually, especially if it’s just to talk!
Notice your children – Okay this may sound like a weird one. Ummm…I know you know your children and notice them, but I mean….NOTICE them. Be conscious of the little things that make them them. The freckles, the dimples, the little faces they make when they’re reading, or when they’re telling you a great story! Look at them when they don’t know you’re looking at them. You will notice things you’ve never seen before. And then you’ll be in complete awe that you created this perfection. FOR REAL.
Sit with them – I know you’re thinking huh? But really…just sit with them. Maybe they’re watching a tv show or a movie…you can just sit next to them without your phone and be available. It will show them you’re interested in spending time with them. Shows can have great topics to talk to your kids about.
Play with them – Little kids especially…just play or do art projects together. Kids remember this stuff! My kids will randomly just say…remember that time we were playing that blah, blah and blah, blah?! Happens all the time. My point is they remember the times you actually played with them. For Zach it was playing with his Playmobil cities that he built or helping him create his movie or music video sets the he would act in. For Ryan it was playing with his Hot Wheels cars. For Reese it was playing with her dolls or doing art projects with her. Oh…and Ryan reminds me all the time that I actually got into Webkinz with him and Zach! Do you remember the Webkinz craze?! We were obsessed! Yes…me too. I’ll admit it. As silly as it sounds, we had fun. It was a bond that we shared and still talk about. 🙂
Ignore the mess – Have you ever heard that saying “Excuse the mess, we’re busy making memories”? Try and live by it. Because in the end, it’s not going to matter if your dishes lived in your sink for a little longer, or if your home is a bit uncluttered, or if you had to dig in a laundry basket to look for extra socks. In the end the kids will remember the time you spent together, not whether the house was kept up or not.
Tell them you love them – Constantly. If there’s one thing we always do…it’s say I love you. Like all the time. Okay…this really isn’t a tip for slowing down but it does help to treasure the moments you have. Plus who doesn’t like to hear those #8letters 😚
So this is just a short list of ideas. There are a ton more, obviously, but we gotta start small! I’m sure you have your own and I’d love to hear them, too! Comment below your thoughts and suggestions so others can benefit from them as well! Until next time, my friends. ☺️
xoxo,
myta
I love this family❤️
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first of all, it really did made me teared up a bit when i read about Reese saying those incredibly amazing words to you, that strong bond you two have is just so nice and powerful. and the fact that everything that makes you happy is all about you and your family… you are such a good mom Myta. you want to spend every bit of time you have with your children, you try to notice and help them, you get so proud of anything they do… i want to be a mom like you when/if i get to be a mom some time in the future.
secondly, we all want to slow down a bit and i think the best way for it is to laugh, definitely to laugh loud and with feeling it. if anyone is reading this right now, i’m gonna list of things i do to laugh or put a little smile on my face so you can get some ideas too!
so whenever i feel sad, anxious, nervous, stressed and bad feelings like these, i watch videos or at least look at some photos of Zach. it is 100% the best and certain way to make me smile. so you can look at some videos or photos of the ones you love, your idols or just anyone you think they make you happy.
i also watch videos of cute animals, it helps so much more than you think, just watch some cute puppy or kitten videos and you’ll find yourself smiling and awwing to the screen.
i have a collection in my saved ones on instagram which is full of the posts i laugh at the most, so i go there and look at some posts and find myself laughing even tearing up of laughter in literally like three seconds hahaha! so you can start saving funny things you see or start looking at them sometimes if you already have a collection.
there are so many things to list to make yourself smile, but this is getting longer and longer, sorry for making this too long by the way. if anyone made it to here, i just want to say it is so important to value your life, to make good memories to remember even years later, smile and laugh, have self confidence and love; so please try to do everything i just wrote above. make your life a good one 🙂 oh and Myta, if you are seeing this right now, i just love you and your family so much, can’t wait to see your next blog! ♡
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Hi Lia! You’re so right! I should’ve added that to my list. Laugh with your family. I love that! And thank you for taking the time to comment. I love hearing from you guys!!! ♥️
You raised such an amazing boy (Zach). I went to the pop up shop in San Francisco and I was on crutches and had a leg brace on when I went and after the show when the band went to go take photos with two little kids. Zach’s and the other guys came up to me to ask me how I was doing. Their love and concern make them such amazing human beings, and they made my year. My experience on crutches was just one of inconvenience and hurt armpits, but the fact that I got to meet the guys and Zach♥️♥️ was really amazing and was a happy moment in the long long road to recovery and normalcy. Again thank you for raising such an amazing boy. ❤️💗❤️
I love your blog, Myta. This one especially-crying here! Only happy tears though. I’ve tried so hard to be present for both of my children-14 and 12. To listen to them-really listen to them. About their days at school or with their friends. All the little details that are so important to them. I have learned so much cars and video games from my son. Some of my favorite memories and spending hours exploring different places to find Pokémon lol. My daughter is a huge music fan. So many different genres but her fave is WDW. After listening to them for hours upon hours, I became a fan to share her enthusiasm for them. One of my fave memories with her is surprising her with tickets to their Boston show in the spring. The time with your children is so short as they grow into adults. Treasure every minute.
Such wonderful advice from a wonderful mom, can’t wait for your next Blog.
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Hi Lynne! Awww…yeah playing Pokemon Go is fun with the kids too! As silly as it sounds, your kids will remember those times! Our kids do grow up quickly, which is why it’s important to create memories with them. I think your daughter will always appreciate and remember the bond you shared with her over WDW! I love that so so much! Thank you for reading my blog. I sure appreciate it and love to hear from other moms, too! ♥️
This is 100% true. I wish all parents are like you and Josh. Your family is just perfect! And that is because of your great parenting job. (I know some people will disagree and say NOTHING’s perfect). But, for me your family is the closest to perfect (if not perfect). You know what I mean?
I don’t know what you did, but your post made me so emotional. My parents only set high expectations for me, but that is it. They never participated in the process of fulfilling those expectations. They only show up when it’s time to say, YOU ARE SUCH A FAILURE and A WASTE OF MONEY. How can some parents see their child as a waste? I know I can’t change my parents, but right now, I am just happy that some kids still get great parents like you and Josh. I am happy that Zach, Ryan, and Reese do not have to go through the pain and loneliness that some kids feel.
This post made me realize that I just have to ignore the mess and make memories! I am so tired of living a life where all I can hear is how much they’ve spent on my food, clothing, etc.
Now, I have to go back and do my accounting homework. Thank you so much Myta aka THE INSPIRATIONAL MAMA HERRON.
-JV
Alright first of all, the little hand prints 😭😭😭 but anyways, thank you for this. I’m one that definitely needs to slow down my days and just enjoy the moment (especially because I tend to stress myself out a lot 😳). I shut myself in my room and do homework constantly (because college🙃) and when I’m not doing homework I tend to be on social media (sometimes I’m even on it during homework which takes me even longer to finish because I get distracted… oops). I’m one that needs to disconnect from my electronics and spend more time with family and you’ve actually helped me realize this, so thank you. You truly are so inspiring and I LOVE you and your blogs😘
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I feel like you and I are kindred spirits. In listening to the podcasts we are so much a like in so many ways. You are so spot on with all of this. I have a 13 year old daughter and a 5 year old son and I am grateful everyday that we have such a close family. We love spending time with our kids! My 13 year old is a huge Limelight and has made me a proud Limelight mom. In August, she got to meet the boys at the Michigan concert and guess who she wanted with her? Me! We had an amazing time that night and this 46 year old sang along with her to every song! I also drove her 3 hours to Chicago 2 weeks ago to go the Pop Up. We both missed school! (I teach) We were lucky enough to score entry to the concert… and again, this 13 year old beauty wanted me to be with her. I would not trade those special moments for anything!! So to make a long story short, we take “busy making memories” very seriously in our family. Gadgets, toys, things they never last but our kids will have these beautiful memories always. Thank you for the beautiful reminders of how blessed we are to have these children of ours!
P.S. the boys are amazing and I think that is a true testament as to all your parenting. You are doing it right!!
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Well hi there my kindred spirit! 🙂 I love hearing how you and your sweet girl bond over WDW! I’m hearing that more and more from other moms and it’s seriously so heart-warming! I agree with you…take those moments with her and cherish them. Missing a few days of school won’t hurt but it sure will become an awesome memory she will forever have. Thanks for sharing your stories 🙂 I love hearing them!
I love this so much
Myta this right here made my cry like a baby🥺❤️I love you and your family 🖤
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Aww thank you!!!
This is so good Myta! Thanks for the reminder! 💗
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aw thanks Shayna! 🙂