Oftentimes as a mom, the concept of having “nothing but time” can be extremely daunting. Days are long enough. Why highlight the slow tick of the clock?

However, It has come to my attention how much the concept of #nothinbuttime makes me a calmer, more patient mom. One who is way more likely to say yes to her children.

Some of y’all may remember this Monday Mantra from when the pandemic started, and I have started using it to name certain days we have. There are no deadlines or appointments. No penalty for being late. Days where we truly have endless time. We have all the margin in the world.

When I name these days, I can feel my body exhale when:
They ask to ride the pretend cars at the mall. (There’s a solid two hours till lunch. Why not?)
A child takes a year getting out of their car seat. (What’s the rush to make that Target return?)
Someone stops for the 15th time on the quarter mile walk around the block. (Who are we in a race with anyways?)
When they make a mess gluing random stuff to a cardboard box. (The cleanup equals another activity!)
They all ask to sit in Millie’s crib in a “fort.” (Sure, I will gladly go take a moment to myself while you do so!)

I know it may seem small, and many of you likely do this so well. But slowing down is a struggle for me. And I tend to rush us along for absolutely no reason at all. Sometimes actually saying in head, “Slow down Kate. You literally have nowhere to be. You have nothing but time.” really, really helps ❤️