The Race of Time

Do you ever feel as though your life is racing by? I have been feeling this way a great deal lately. My children are growing up quickly. My two older daughters have already passed their twentieth birthdays, and my son is going to turn eighteen in mere months. My youngest daughter turned fifteen recently. As I am faced with the harsh reality that my children, are for the most part, not children anymore; I think of all the things I had planned to do with the kids that I just never quite got around to doing.

Life seems to be a chain of endless events. We seem to rush from one thing to another in a frenzy of activity. Most of these activities are necessary. Church, work, school, and chores comprise most of our lives. But we manage to find time for fun things as well. I find as I look back over my life that the memories I most cherish are not the major events such as vacations and theme parks, but the spontaneous hilarity that erupts frequently on the road of everyday life. I think of the innocent statements that become family jokes and linger indefinitely. These statements are brought up over and over again and never fail to produce fond memories and laughs. They are applied to various situations whether they are related or not. These “inside” jokes are a phenomenon of family life, and give us a sense of belonging. Our families are exclusive clubs that one must share DNA or a marriage covenant to be granted admittance. What tickles our funny bone may not make a bit of sense to another family with another family culture, but to us it is the sweet bond of unity.

My daughters and I went on a trip recently. In the course of a few days, we had several of these spontaneous occurrences. One of these was at a buffet restaurant. I asked my daughter to go to the salad bar and smell the soup and tell me if it was any good. She said “No.” She had a quizzical look on her face, as she thought I meant to actually lean down and take a whiff of the soup pot. Of course I was not encouraging her to do anything that weird. I simply meant that when she was near the soup if it smelled good, to bring me some. After I had explained what I really meant, she went up to look at the soup. She came back and with great emphasis said, “Mom, that soup is missing EVERYTHING!” We all burst into gales of laughter.

It was chicken noodle soup. I immediately knew what she was saying. I knew what to expect at that restaurant, and I was merely interested in it’s fitness/freshness. I knew it was going to be a thin soup. It was basically just broth, thin noodles and smallish pieces of chicken. She, on the other hand, expected chicken soup like I make from scratch at home. My chicken soup contains large chunks of chicken, carrots, celery, onions, homemade wide noodles and brown rice and a whole host of spices. It is really more of a chicken stew. She was right, that soup was missing everything. My, what mileage we have gotten from that statement!

The seasons of life come and go as quickly as the seasons of the year. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Babyhood, Childhood, Adolescence, Adulthood. Time is flying into timelessness. Take time to enjoy the seasons as the pass, and remember that the imprint you make in your children’s lives today will continue to impact them as they enter adulthood and beyond.
Shauna Bagenstso 2010