How Do You Spell Love?

There is a popular saying, "Kids spell love T-I-M-E" I honestly
couldn't agree more given where I am in life right now. The effects of spending nearly all day with Chelsea and Clayton can easily be seen when they want to spend every second sitting next to me, doing anything and everything I might be trying to do, or crawling all over me like a jungle gym. Thankfully I'm sturdy. 

But the interpretation of what TIME actually is in this context is as muddy and debatable as the theory of time itself. Its easy to say it means 'quality' time, but what constitutes quality? It can mean as little as being in the same room with them or as much as actively interacting and engaging them intellectually. Playing, teaching, getting down on their level and listening to them-instead of just hearing them talk. That's the difference between time and TIME to me.


Realistically, it's impossible to spend all of your time at high level interaction. Responsibilities creep up on you fast. I am always amazed when I look up and the morning is gone. So often it seems like breakfast was just on the table and I'm already cooking lunch. Then shoes on, Chelsea dropped off at school, and back home to get Clayton down for a nap. A couple hours of quiet time is gone in a blink and its shoes on again to pick Chelsea up from school. Dinner before you
know it and I look up again and I'm reading a bedtime story and tucking them in. It goes by so fast. Most days I am with them from the start of the day until the end and I wonder how much TIME I spent.


So I looked back at this last week and I think we got some really good TIME in. It started with a little dancing.

"I shaking my booty"

We got the kids library cards and go every week to get a fresh batch of books to ready for bedtime. The library is literally right around the corner from us on the same block so most times we will walk over. 

First we need to return our current books.

My favorite from last week:

Then the selection of new books begins. 

Once we have a new batch ready to go we get a little coloring time.

Mother's Day was Sunday so we made Erin some special cards. 

They did a great job with minimal involvement from me. Clayton told me what to write and Chelsea just needed a little help spelling. Tragically I think my hand writing is only slightly better at 32 than hers at 5. Maybe I should practice too. 

Chelsea started her second year of T-Ball this week and I am very excited to be here for it. Baseball is my favorite sport. 

Getting some pre-practice in the backyard before our actual first practice. 

Now the real deal. Ready to take grounders.

All in all a really great week. And then I step back a little more and look at the TIME I spend with Erin. We grow up and become independent, which is incredibly important, but do we ever grow out of spelling love T-I-M-E? I really don't think so. By no means is this anything new. There are songs and poems and books and movies and somewhere there is sure to be an entire collection of Oprah shows dedicated to
the importance of spending meaningful time with your partner. But how often do you think about it? Do you find yourself just sitting in the same room as someone, absorbed in your own world, not even noticing if they were to get up and walk away? That used to be me. That is maybe one of the biggest changes I've made. To give up what I thought was important "me" time and spend real TIME with someone else. That doesn't mean that every moment is filled with mushy gushy super romance or soul searching bonding conversation, though there is plenty of both. It means being together, close together, holding hands or her legs thrown over mine while we sit on the couch together. It means
Netflix binges and making kettle corn. It's taking a walk. It's being together. It's a conscious effort to be more than yourself when you are with them. 

Life comes with a never ending supply of interruptions. Make TIME.