When did we get so busy?

You don’t have to wait in line at the video store, just order it online. You don’t have to trudge through the grocery store just order it online and drive through so them can load them in your car. You don’t have to browse through the bookstore just reserve the book online and pick it at the front desk…or just order it online for home delivery. Don’t want to shop for clothes or shoes, just order it online and have it delivered to your front door. Dinner on the run, no problem just drive through…don’t want to leave the house, just have dinner delivered instead. Even the library has gone online so you don’t have to search through the stacks looking for the book you want…just reserve the book online and pick it up at the desk.

Is this really the life we want? Or has this just become the acceptable way to rush through our lives?

A week doesn’t go by that you don’t hear about the weight problem people have because they are eating too much fast food. Well did you ever stop to think that we are teaching our kids other bad habits besides not eating healthy?

I’ll be the first one to say standing in line makes me nuts. Inevitably I will end up next to little Johnny…you’ve met a little Johnny I’m sure, he’s the kid that’s whines the whole time you are in line. He whines because he’s not getting the video he really wanted…not that little Johnny’s mommy didn’t try, they just didn’t have it…so mommy is getting 3 other videos to make little Johnny happy. Five minutes in line with little Johnny and you realize he needs a swat on the bottom and his mommy needs a swat as well.

So what did you learn from this other than patients…to appreciate your kids for not carrying on like little Johnny. Your kids saw how annoying little Johnny was and you reinforce that with…you pull a stunt like that any we would leave empty handed…or…he wasn’t acting like a big boy at all was he...

So many choices in the grocery store but how will you teach your kids about making the right choices if they never see you shop? They will grow up believing that all you have to do is drive up to the grocery store and someone will put groceries in your trunk. I know when my son was little it was a great way to talk to him. They say talking helps build their vocabulary…look at all the opportunities you have to talk about what’s around you. As they get older they learn they can’t have every thing they want either due to your budget or it’s just not healthy to have a steady diet of Captain Bob the Train Builder cereal…*G*

What about browsing through those stacks for just the right book…you never know what books you’ll find if you spend time surrounded by them. Are we really doing them a service by running in and grabbing a book at the front desk so we can hurry on to the next stop? What about the book that didn’t catch the attention of the critics or advertisers…could it have caught yours or your child’s attention and made a difference in their day, year or life? By rushing on, have you missed an opportunity to explore something that could have changed your mind?

So maybe next time you are rushing around, take a minute and ask yourself which is more important, what you are rushing too or what you are rushing by?

Well I need to put my soapbox away cause I need to finish cleaning the bathrooms then run to the store to pick up the books I have on hold at the front desk before I pick up my son…no time for supper tonight because of the PTA meeting so it will be the drive through…then I have to….

Guess I’m as guilty as everyone else…*G*…time to stop and smell the life I’m rushing through…