This past week we were graced by the presence of a most extraordinary woman. Marc’s sister, Nicole, came into town. (This was a wonderful thing — at least for us. Spending hours pushing Seth on swings, listening to his stories and fashioning cool things out of Play-doh only to then deal with an obnoxious brother and sister-in-law probably felt more like boot camp than vacation.)

In the wee hours of one sleepless night, I collected my pillow, blanket and cup of water in search of a quieter room and a better chance at catching a few winks. Nicole was in the guest bedroom. I didn’t think she’d appreciate me asking her to scoot over at 3:30 a.m. She might find that a bit weird. So I snuck into Seth’s room. I crawled into his double bed, held his sweet little hand and soon fell asleep.

At 7:30 a.m. he awoke — far too early for me. I tried to lure him back into the bed. I cajoled, but to no avail. Then I appealed to his ego.

“But Sweets,” I whined, “I NEED you to cuddle up next to me. I need to hug on you a bit.”

His retort? “No mommy. Not now. I don’t have TIME.”

Ouch.

Those words have never flown out of his mouth before. But I’ve said them countless times.

When he wants me to lay next to him at night, he’ll ask me. I’ll say, “No sweetheart. I don’t have time.” Then I rattle off a list of things I want to do.

Sometimes he’ll ask me to play cars with him. And I don’t want to. Truth is, he’s sort of bossy and he always gives me the broken cars to play with — or worse — no car at all. I get to PRETEND to have a car. Plus there’s always something to clean, a bill to pay, a blog to read, or phone call to make. So I’ll often say, “I can’t sweetheart. I don’t have time.”

The day-to-day task of raising a child is sort of looking into a mirror and inspecting your appearance. There are days you really like what you see. But there are some days you catch a glimpse and realize that what you’re doing now? Isn’t working so great.

I know that saying, “there’s no time” is an excuse. The sad truth is, I’m not MAKING time. Daily life has gotten so hectic that I’ve sort of forgotten. Plain and simple? I need to — not only for him but for me. Because someday he’s going to grow up.

And I don’t want him doing so without me.