I want to be present for my kids, but I believe there’s a balance I should strike where my kids feel nurtured, listened to and important without feeling like they’re the center of the universe and all revolves around them. I also believe in not losing my sanity. All good things, all good things.

However, my phone is my biggest struggle. I love the opportunity it enables me to connect with friends and family. I love the ability to write down my thoughts and ideas for my next blog post, and of course I like taking photos of my kids. All. The. Time.

But, there has to be a balance and I am still figuring that out. I swing wildly from deleting my Facebook account to combining my work and personal account to creating a blog.

I worry that my kids will be addicted to their phones because they see Patrick and I on our phones, especially when Grace says something like, “Mom, stop texting and look at me.” Yikes! Or when Henry says, “I need to text my daddy.” Oh geeze. That’s always my cue to set the phone down and be more present.

However, let’s remember kids are occasionally prone to hyperbole. Especially my kids, no idea why….they’re the worst.

But, it’s still a helpful reminder that they notice, and they absorb, our habits as their own. So, I’ve been really trying hard to limit phone use.

That’s the background you need, now I’m gonna gush about the coolest moment ever!!!!

Today I was sitting outside with the kids and a big bug hit me in the head and fell to the arm rest of my chair. Instead of screaming and waving my arms wildly, I stayed calm and cool and noticed it was a neat looking bug! I was being so present! I even brought Grace and Henry over to look at it. They loved it! They had lots of questions and we spent 5 minutes talking about it. And five minutes in toddler time is like 3 hours.

I love moments like that. Nothing major happened, but exploring our surroundings together, engaging in discussion and fostering curiosity is at the very core of what I want for our kids in this stage of life. It’s easy to get carried away in the daily trials, bedtime struggles and exhaustion of our current season of life, but there is so much more to our days, and if I take a step back I can see that the good certainly outweighs the challenging.

Grace says the funniest things, Henry is my little wild man who does the funniest things, and Sophia is my wildest munchkin who keeps me laughing endlessly. All three fill my heart with such joy and I’m feeling especially grateful for our time together, so I thought I better post before you know what hits the fan and I’m lamenting a different time.