Where does the time go?

With the addition of a third child ten weeks ago, my oldest son has just started kindergarten three weeks ago, and myself celebrating a milestone birthday in the not-so-distant past, I find myself asking that question daily. I am also seeing the effects of those years become more evident as I look in the mirror. As my generational cohort has been newly termed ‘Geriatric Millennials,’ I have also begun to acknowledge that aging gracefully is not just a product of our outward physical appearance.

Our schedules seem to become busier by the day and it is easy to fall into a rut, doing things out of convenience as opposed to what is better for us in the long run, mentally, spiritually, and/or physically. It also becomes easy to only think about what benefits ME, and how does it benefit me NOW. Sometimes you must find a way to simply survive and going through the McDonald’s drive-through every now and then is not the end of the world, but I often find myself reflecting on the lives and lifestyles of my grandparents and I’ve concluded that they had it figured out.

Now, don’t get me wrong, my grandparents didn’t have it easy. Both of my grandfathers farmed, one a dairy farmer and the other a small grain farmer, and they each had a second career off the farm. My grandmothers were the glue that kept everything together in and around the home, a job that I would argue was the most difficult within the household. Raising six children each, rest assured that there was never a dull moment trying to keep up with the demands of a growing family. Maybe that’s why they both lived on a steady diet of coffee throughout the day!