You're gonna miss this...

This time of year, I get pretty sappy.  Maybe it's because I am approaching the nursing home years....I KID!  Or...maybe I am just sentimental.  Last year was the first Christmas EVER, in my life, that I did not spend it, at my parents house.  See they moved away to the sunshine state and left me!  AS IF!  I won't lie, it broke my heart.  All those years of sweet traditions were gone.  It was time to move ahead and make new ones.  Even when I lived in NYC, I ALWAYS came home.  No matter what, I opened my Santa presents at my parents house.  This year, they will be here, for Christmas.  And...I feel SO blessed.  I am so lucky to have parents that have bee married for 44 years.  Parents that raised me to be humble.  To be thankful for everything, good and bad.  They taught me that in life, you must go through some bad stuff, to get to the really good stuff.  Boy were they right.  Too many times in life, we get down on the world.  We get sad, pissed off, hateful, ungrateful and so on....  What I have learned over the years is this, STOP WITH THE NEGATIVE!  I cannot tell you how many times I have seen this very negativity on FB, just this week alone.  People making fun of others, taking stuff to heart, when it was meant to tease, calling out others on crap, that is none of their business.   Life is too short, to waste even an ounce of energy on the negative.  Just last night I had a VERY long talk with my kiddos about this very thing.  We talked about how SO many children are without parents, without siblings, without a stable roof over their head or food.  I think we forget all of the luxuries we have right in front of us.  We need to stop reading into things so much as well.  If you see something that ticks you off, that someone has said, let it go.  Save that energy for focusing on the good.  I want to raise kids that see the good in EVERY situation.  That is how I was raised.  Don't get me wrong, I STILL bitched and moaned and felt sorry for myself on MANY occasions.  BUT....I allowed myself to be open to the good I knew would eventually come.  Three people that I follow on IG, lost a loved one this week.  One was very young.  It puts so much in perspective for me.  I MUST enjoy life and all that it has to offer.  I need to smile more, laugh more and tell people I love them, even more. 

On my back to work, I heard "You're Gonna Miss This" by Trace Adkins on the radio.  AND...I don't even listen to country music.  I just happened to stop at that channel.  This song hit home.  This morning, Liv was mouthy and wouldn't get dressed, so of course I got frustrated.  But you know what, someday soon, I will wish I had that time back.  Over Thanksgiving we watched videos of when the kids were little.  Talk about being emotional.  I cried like a baby.  I am sure at the time the videos were taken, I was sleep deprived and a big ole bitch.  BUT...I would give anything to go back and hug my sweet little babies, at that age.

We all need to quit wishing time away and live in the moment.  I am so guilty of this.  So when the kids won't clean their rooms and the hubby won't turn the channel to Bravo, it's OK, just breath and live in that very moment. 

Because remember....

"It's hard to believe
But you're gonna' miss this
You're gonna' want this back
You're gonna' wish these days
Hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna' miss this
You're gonna' miss this
Yeaahhhh... you're gonna' miss this"

                                                                     XO,
                                                                     Lori