My monthly newsletter was almost ready when it took a whole other direction. Since we are “springing forward”, I turned my direction to clocks, and my normal monthly newsletter evolved into something I thought was more “timely”. Fanatic News Flash will resume next month.
Is it me, or weren’t we just ringing in the new year? So far this year is moving at super speed! The latter part of February was big for us. Our first-born had a birthday, and we surprised her with a trip to Florida! We typically don’t do big things like that, but she’s a special girl, and we wanted to celebrate her milestone birthday in a special way!
Time is not something I think too much about, until I printed out a small poster for our daughter’s celebration. It’s one of those things where the age (16) is broken down by weeks, days, hours, and minutes. By the way, at sixteen, they have lived for a total of 8,409,600 minutes. Pretty fascinating if you like numbers!
Spring Forward – yeah, I’m aware.
This is the time of year when we turn the clocks forward. I know it sounds cliche, but I feel like I’ve been springing forward on a daily basis for at least the past several years! Have you caught yourself saying, “this week flew by” more often, or when referring to “last week” it was actually three months ago? We are not what I would consider a busy family, but at the end of the day (which is actually the next day for me), I find myself wondering where the time went. I’m probably not alone when I say I am in spring forward mode all the time! I also find myself wondering if I made the day count. Although I’m a procrastinator, a dwaddler, a poor manager of time, and my to-do list often goes unchecked, I can honestly say,
“Yes, I made today count.”
With that poor but accurate description of myself, you may be thinking how can I say that? It sounds more like I’m barely getting by. Some days it feels that way, but I did absolutely make the day count in the lives of two people who mean the world to me, our kids. The years have certainly flown by, and I have had the joy of doing “life” with them since day one. Has everyday been sunshine and rainbows? Of course not. You know what though? I am home, they know their needs will be met, and they are loved. No one else knows them better, and no one will look out for their best interest as much as their dad and me. I have been present for those milestones, as well as the little things that happen on a daily basis – so absolutely, I made today count.
My husband often says that we get the worst of him, and it’s true. He has a physically and mentally demanding job, and many times at the end of the day, he’s spent. We do often get the leftovers, but we’ll gladly take the leftovers so I can do what I do every day – which is training our children. It is our responsibility. I could not imagine freely giving my job to anyone else. No one has a better job than I do. It’s true! I’m springing forward without a doubt, life is moving at a fast pace, and I’m glad I’m not missing a thing!
Losing an hour? It’s much more than that.
While all of us are springing forward and missing that hour, think about this: If you multiplied the hours most children are in school (7) by approximately 180 days from K-12th grade (13 years) you would have an equation that looked like this: 13(180×7) = 16,380 hours. That’s close to a million minutes! That does not include hours outside of class, on the bus, or homework.
It devastating to think about losing out on a million minutes with my children. To top it off, that’s a million minutes in someone’s care that you probably do not even know. I don’t know if I’d call it care, because from what I’ve been hearing, it is indoctrination. I’m sure there some super teachers who do care, but even they are rarely able to do their jobs. The standards are sinking lower and lower academically and especially morally with each passing year. It’s time to opt out, and not lose anymore of those short years that you have with your kids. You will never, ever regret the time spent with them. What would you do with a million extra minutes?
If you are interested in getting back those million minutes with your kids, start by checking out the homeschooling requirements for your state. It’s easier than you may think, and more rewarding than you can imagine!
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