Living in the Present

The other day, I saw a post on FB (which, of course, I can't locate now) about how you can't sit around waiting for your life to begin, because your life is already happening. The obstacles or challenges you're trying to overcome - that's what life is. (If you're the one who shared this post, send me the link, eh?)

I like this sentiment. Looking back through the years, I'd say I've done ok overall of living in the present. Perhaps it was hardest when I was a student, because you've really got the end goal in mind there (graduation), and it can be tough to find the joy in hundreds of pages of assigned reading. But I seized the moment when I could, whether through nighttime Slurpee runs during college or attending random parties at the Slovenian embassy during grad school. And I didn't wait around to have a boyfriend/get married before having adventures like jetting off to Morocco for a week.

Now, I am doing my best to embrace life, one day at a time. I will admit that it was tough when the babies were newborns. I did not enjoy those days too much because I was so sleep deprived, and they really didn't do much that was interesting. But now that they can hold their own heads up, hey, it's getting easier! And it's pretty fun to babble with them. Currently, they like to say "oh! aaaah!" and make gargling noises.

It's hard, though, not to say to myself, "Once they are taking more regular naps, then we can do____," or "Once I'm not afraid of them getting germs from the nursery, then my real mom life will start," or "As soon as they can talk and tell me what they need, things should be easier." I'm sure that when we do arrive at those various milestones, I'll soon identify something else that I'm waiting for.

So today, I'll give them each a bath and enjoy the individualized splashing time, rather than wishing they were big enough to sit up unassisted so I could put them both in the tub together. I'll mix up their bottles without dreaming of the day they can just eat whatever we're having for dinner. And I'll happily babble-talk with them, singing the chorus of their favorite song (because it says ga ga, ooh la la!)