Thursday, November 26, 2015

The Word My Son Taught Me to Eliminate From My Vocabulary


A few months ago I realized I was starting to tell my son “to hurry”. One day as we were out walking, I stopped in the middle of telling him to hurry to our next location. Were we really in a hurry? No. Did we need to hurry? Absolutely not!

I started thinking about why I was telling him to hurry. Was it the constant reminder of society that tells us to rush? Was it that his little legs don’t walk as fast as mine? Was it that we are on a military base and hear “hurry up and wait”?

I had to remind myself: Slow down, “hurrying” means you’re missing what’s right here.

Every time I was telling my son to hurry, what was I missing out on? The world is all new to him and he is an explorer ready for adventure. He often shows me things I have never noticed before.

When he wants to stop and smell the flowers, why not!? I could use some aroma therapy to rejuvenate the day. We now stop at dirt piles in odd locations, pull out the construction toys and dig.

I now let him take his time and show me everything from his perspective. He’s taught me to be present, slow down, and not rush through his childhood. If we really need to be some place at a certain time I backwards plan and allow way more time than we actually need.

I don’t want him to learn “to hurry” as a child. The world of rushing can wait for him to decide on his own if he wants to be a part of it or not.

Slow down, and enjoy life. Let the “hurrying” go.















47 comments:

  1. I LOVE this! What a great reminder, as I say this to my youngest all the time!

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  2. Hi Vanessa, this is such a great reminder, especially as we get closer to the holidays and all the busyness that sometimes come. I will be making an effort to slow down and smell the roses too! Wishing you blessings!

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  3. Lovely post! - I feel like I am a bit of a rusher - when actually half the time I don't really have anywhere to be I just feel like I should be going quicker - always wanting to do more. This is a great reminder that we all need to slow down and savour the little moments :)

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  4. I really do love this...we all need to learn to slow down in this crazy, hectic life! Thanks for sharing at the Our Simple Homestead Blog Hop! http://oneashhomestead.com/2015/11/homestead-blog-hop-27/

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    1. It would be a different world if we all slowed down :)

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  5. Thank you so much for sharing this reminder at PatAndCandy.com and our LearningFromEachOther link party! We'll be featuring it this Friday :-)

    Such an important message...from a mother of 5!!

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  6. How smart you are Vanessa, big star for you. Hurrying is something we learn all too soon. Why? We let ourselves be pushed into hurrying when we don't need to. Being urged to hurry is just other people wanting others around them to be stressed out. Life is too much hurrying,
    This year I haven't been able to do nearly as much as I'd like to have but think the world will still keep turning I won't be a nervous wreck trying to do too much. Have noticed my endurance isn't what it used to be. I'm 75 and just can't do all I used to do in one day. On 12/7 will be having my right shoulder replaced so haven't been able to make all I wanted to or decorate all I wanted to, or thought I wanted to. Have had to put supplies way and let project after project go for this year. It is really quite freeing. What will happen that so much doesn't get done, not a thing.
    Your young son will learn with your example that life goes on, no biggie. Enjoy him while he's so young, what a wonderful present we get with our kids but they grow up so quickly and soon will be telling you they don't have time for you if you don't pay attention now. Glad you shared this message for us all. Enjoy your life, your husband and kids, that time goes by so fast and before you know it your kids have their own lives and families. Happy season

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    1. Hope everything goes well. Thank you for your kind words.

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  7. Great post! I have a terrible habit of hurrying and it pulls me from being present. I need to be more mindful of that. Thanks for sharing on the Small Victories Sunday Linkup!

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  8. Great share! Love the message :)

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  9. Replies
    1. Life is so much more enjoyable when we slow down :)

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  10. This is such a sweet reminder. We need to slow down and enjoy the moments of life. That old saying, "You're in a hurry to go no place." comes to mind. My mom use to tell me that all the time. Thanks for linking up on #MotivationMondayParty .

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  11. I love that you have learned this now as a young mom to a little boy who doesn't have a "hurry" bone in his body!!! Visiting from Sarah Frazer's, in slot #139

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  12. Great post with a wonderful message! Thank you for sharing your posts with us this week for Brag About It!
    Have a wonderful week!
    ~Laurie

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  13. We get into such a habit of hurrying them, it's hard to stop! Thanks for posting. Hello from Idea Box.

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  14. Thank you so much for sharing this at Idea Box :)
    I've been all about slowing things down this year too!
    Your post has been featured.

    Hugs,
    Mila

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  15. Yes, little boy. You cut that cucumber!


    At first when I read the beginning, my face twisted. You don't want to tell your child to hurry up? No, he needs to! Time is money!
    But then I kept reading. You're right, why do we hurry in this life all the time? I mean it's different if you're taking forever doing something you don''t want to do, but all he wanted to do was sniff the roses? Sometimes, time is priceless.


    www.blossomthecreativist.com

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  16. Great advice! And thanks for linking this up to Fitness Friday last week, hope to see you back today. http://drops-of-learning.com/category/fitness-friday-link-up/

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    1. Thank you Miranda for checking out this post!

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  17. Vanessa, this is so awesome, out of the mouths of babes...I think that we rush ourselves and our kids too much. You are so right and I still do it now. Mostly just because I am used to it. I am going to keep this in mind more often and just slow down! Thanks!

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  18. This is a great reminder that we all need to slow down and savor the moments. I find myself always in a rush majority of the time. #MeanderingMondays

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    1. I think we all feel we just need to rush through everything.

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  19. Thank you for the reminder in life. Some times we get so caught up in getting through life, we don't take time to enjoy it! This post is being featured at the (mis)Adventures Mondays Blog Hop.

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    1. Thank you! It's true we often forget to actually live life :)

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  20. Thanks for sharing the wonderful reminder of life to Hearth and soul blog hop. Yes we caught up with lot of things, never get time to enjoy the what we need too.

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    1. It's sad we so rarely enjoy what we are doing.

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  21. I think about this too. We hurried through so much and it's so sad. Those moments you can never get back...
    Thanks for sharing!

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    1. So true, we go through everyday thinking we will have more time some time later.

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  22. What a wonderful post! You are so right, we are always hurrying, and exhorting our children to hurry! Thank you for sharing this wise advice with us at the Hearth and Soul Hop.

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