STOP FOR THE LITTLE THINGS

My head has been buried in my phone a lot lately. You see, it's where I work, it's how I make my living, not to mention it's where I escape to when I just can't deal with the "real world", or when I want a break from my three little somewhat demanding kids. But lately I have noticed it has also been preventing me from seeing things.

Like how my 4-year-old daughter (aka 'twin number 1'), who was always the "baby" of the family and never quite managed getting dressed all by herself, is not only doing it, but doing it rather well and taking such pride in herself as she pulls up her tights halfway up her bottom and puts her shoes on backwards.

Or how my 6-year-old who is one of the smartest kids I know and loves learning new things, is actually struggling at school. She's been struggling for a while and I just didn't see it despite the fact that she had said it in many ways (even if she didn't say it in words).

Or how brilliantly my other 4-year-old is doing in her new class and how many new friends she's made.

Or how it's gone really cold and it's probably time to get the old boots out and stop leaving the house in the morning with my hair wet and no hat on!

And so much more things.

The little things we miss when we are rushing, ticking off items from our never ending 'to do list', moving forward from one goal to another and never ever stopping to smell the roses because god forbid the world might go on without us.

Then earlier this week I was given "permission" to stop.

A lovely lady who was doing my hair on Monday morning told me that this was a "gift" and I decided to take it. I spent a whole hour and a half DOING NOTHING but enjoying her pampering and the complete silence.

And in that silence, everything slowed down and I my eyes opened to notice all the things I haven't been able to see lately.

And you know what? Life is a little bit nicer when it's slowed down, like an old movie that just gets better with every year that goes by. The kids are less annoying when you actually stop to listen to their very long stories about unicorns and dragons and you're not thinking about all the laundry you have to do or what to cook for dinner. And you might even be a little kinder to yourself when you realize that life is too short to be spent with your face stuffed in a phone.

It's a weird timing for all of this to happen on the week of Thanksgiving (though we don't celebrate it as we are based in the UK) and although I know some people think having one designated day a year to 'give thanks' is lame and that you should be thankful all year round (and they're probably right cos wouldn't we all be so much happier if we could actually do that?), I kinda think that having one day a year that you HAVE TO STOP and notice the little things is pretty awesome.

And although it's hard for me to put into words what I am actually feeling or what I want you to take away from this (which is odd cos if there's one thing I love doing is using words to express my emotions), I guess what I'm trying to say is that I am really grateful.

Not just for all the things and people I have in my live, but for being able to STOP and notice them.