Be Here

Don’t rush.  Don’t move on.  Don't think about needing to wipe his sticky fingers.  Don't look away.  Don't worry about pulling weeds, or watering wilting flowers.  Don’t get up.  Don't anticipate bedtime.  Don't start cleaning up the explosion of balls and trucks and buckets.  Don't hurry the day.  Don’t forget.
Just be here, right now, and let this, this pleasure of being a parent, sink into my soul the way the apple juice popsicle drips right down his tummy.

Right here, I remind myself, standing perfectly still, neither looking backward or forward, but still with the simple belief that we will not always remember the last five minutes, that we will get through the next five minutes, and that right now is it.

 JEB