What’s Wrong With Right Now?

Adding “yet” to our thoughts can take us from feeling free to stuck. This simple word changes our idea of what being free to believe in someday is. Free to take those baby steps and know they will take us somewhere. Even better free to accept our kiddos for where they are right now. Sometimes we need this word to answer some questions, but sometimes we need to say “What’s wrong with right now” or “Never” or “I am not sure when.”

Time is a thief… we see this written all over memes on social media. But not embracing it can be a thief too. We trap ourselves in always looking back at the past because sometimes it’s so easy to do. We find ourselves pulling out old photo albums or scrolling through the thousands of photos on our phones. There are so many apps on our phones with reminders of what a year ago, two years ago, or a decade ago looked like.

Lately, I’m finding myself saying “not yet” more and more. We are told not to worry about comparing milestones for the longest time during the baby stage. But somewhere during toddlerhood, it became a race all over again.

What songs do they know?
How tall are they?
Are they potty trained?
How high can they count?
Have they dropped naps?
What cool places are you bringing them to?
What sports or activities do they do?
Are you going to homeschool?
When will you give them a sibling?

How many of you feel bad when you can’t answer some of the questions listed above? Maybe we say “not yet” with a certain tone of insecurity. We worry when someone asks us something that doesn’t fit our reality. Are we just doing things wrong? Maybe we are doing too much or too little? Are we pushing too hard? Are we not giving our best?

Some of these things may be milestones and valid goals, but some are just points on someone else’s map. Mamas, we should remind ourselves that we don’t need to fit on anyone else’s map. Even on our own parents because they went off a different timeline than we do. Maybe we will do things differently than they did.

Lately, as my daughter gets older, I find more and more questions aren’t even related to timely milestones. They’re aimed at larger future goals and milestones that we simply don’t have the answers to…ahem…yet. And that is okay!

It’s time to say what’s wrong with right now and bring the focus to the present. We need to forget about if and when. We need to worry less about having to say not yet. Try to love the past for what it is. Try to soak in the one and only…right now!

Is there something your child hasn’t met yet that makes you nervous to answer? Is there something you are ready to accept as maybe not even being on your journey?