Precious Moments

On Sunday past, after a fantastic trip to the beach, a strange thing happened. On our way home from Silverstrand in Galway we stopped for something to eat, this in itself is not that unusual, although we tend not to eat out very often as a family, what was unusual was that it was very pleasant, enjoyable experience. All four kids sat to the table and fed themselves, we chatted about all the crabs and jellyfish we had seen in the sea, we laughed a lot and everyone behaved.
Then it hit me, my little family is growing up, there was no baby being spoon-fed or whingeing, nobody was staring at us and wishing we would leave with our brood of unruly children and nothing got broken.
Its not that our children were ever particularly naughty but as anyone with children will know the two places that children's behaviour hits an all time low are restaurants and churches, they seem to feed off the stress that we as parents are suffering!!
And while it was wonderful to be able to sit and enjoy this, there was a small part of me that felt sad. Sometimes we are so busy just trying to get through the day that we don't realise how quick the days are going by. Our 'baby' boy will be 2 next month, I feel as though Ive blinked and he has suddenly become a little man.
I read a quote recently on @BumblesofRice blog which said 'The days are Long but the years are Short' and it has stayed with me because its so true.
There are still days when I am counting down the minutes until kids bedtime, but more and more I am searching for the 'pause button' so I can live in these precious moments forever.