Treasures

"I write to hold what I find in my life in my hands and declare it a treasure" (Lucy Calkins).
That is my writing mantra, yet I've failed miserably at living up to it. I'm not referring so much to the writing part of it as that is rather inconsequential. I'm referring to the part about glimpsing the treasure, even in the seemingly mundane moments of life. It seems the last few months, even the last several, have been rather stale. Not that anything has been wrong necessarily, nothing specifically negative...just a dry spell, I suppose.

It feels like I spend most days just going through the motions, checking things off of a list, but not really holding on to the moments in order to remember them and give them meaning. I suppose that is why I haven't been here. Because who wants to hear about another tedious day of school? Or a lazy afternoon? Or a trip to the mall? 

See? I'm missing the point. I'm missing the treasures. Instead of that tedious day of school, I need to focus on the fact that I found a new way to teach long division so one of my boys could better understand it. I should tell about how the kids created a crepe paper laser beam obstacle course to take up some time on a rainy afternoon. I should highlight the big smile that we couldn't erase from one boy's face when he got his new Transitions lenses on his glasses. Or I should tell about how one of those tedious days ended with my baby saying to me, "Mommy? I love you so much!" 

These are the treasures I'm missing because I've no longer been intentionally making the effort to see them and mull them over and cherish them. Moreover, I've no longer been putting forth any effort to create experiences for the kids that generate these treasures. I can't believe how quickly they're growing up. Everyone warned me. They just warned me when I was up to my elbows in spit up, dirty diapers, and crumby floors. So I didn't believe them. Now I've forgotten to remember how fast it goes by.

It is time now to start recapturing the moments and declaring them treasures.