“Comparison is the thief of joy.”
Theodore Roosevelt
Last night I found myself scrolling through Facebook and took particular notice of friends’ posts showing all these fun activities they are doing with their kids. Some were at the beach, some were enjoying time at the cottage, some were playing board games or watching a movie as a family. And for some reason, I found myself feeling a little sad, even jealous if I’m being totally honest.
For obvious reasons (ahem, COVID), this summer looks pretty different for most people. Our favourite thing to do as a family in the summer is to get our fun meters filled by riding the highest, fastest, steepest roller coasters. Since that isn’t an option, we have really been sticking pretty close to home. We live in an amazing area with TONS of things to do, but my kids are also at the age where they aren’t all that interested in hanging out with their parents and I get that. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, but I get it nonetheless.
As I looked at these pics on Facebook of families with little ones spending time together and making great memories during a challenging time, I had to remind myself that I was once that person, too. And undoubtedly, my posts made someone on my friend’s list nostalgic and sentimental about the days when their kids were younger. So instead of comparing our family and our lack of “fun” activities we’ve been doing together, I chose to pause and be grateful for the little things.
During this crazy time, there have been many nights where the boys have asked to go for a late night drive, just to get out of the house. Sometimes we’ll go grab some fries at the McDonald’s drive-thru or we drive down streets that we’ve always wondered where they led. On a recent drive, I gave them a guided tour of an area where I used to hang out when I was younger and they commented on how they liked the “vibe” of it. (This is a compliment, teenager-style). This led to them pointing out houses they like and was yet another opportunity to reaffirm what we’ve always known – even though they are identical twins, they are completely unique individuals.
Then last night, G. asked if they could get out our old Wii. They haven’t played it in years as they’ve moved on from the Wii’s kid-friendly options in favour of Call of Duty and UFC on the Xbox or PlayStation but for some reason, they wanted to give it a try again. And here they were, all my boys in the same room at the same time! They were laughing, recalling the names of their favourite characters and getting a kick out of the silly avatars they created way back when. This made me think that maybe I wasn’t the only one who was feeling nostalgic. Maybe, just maybe, my boys who appear cool and aloof on the outside and are loving life as teenagers also reminisce about the days when they were younger, too.
Even though they may not always take us up on our offers, I won’t stop asking them if they want to go places with us. And I will continue to honour their requests for late night drives because one day when they are grown even bigger, these will also become the times I reminisce about. And I don’t want to miss a thing.
So mamas of little ones, keep posting your pictures. Keep doing the fun things. Keep making the memories. And while it may look a little different at Chez Austin, we will be doing the same. In the meantime, I’m going to go brush up on my Wii bowling skills just in case 🙂
