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Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Tick, tick, tick goes the clock... - Natalie Anderson

October is a fantastic month in our house - of the six of us, four have our birthdays. We're halfway through - two down, two to go (including mine). I'm in the midst of organising my eldest daughter's first sleepover party - it's going to be such fun!

Added to that bunch of excitement, it is four years ago this week that I got the 'Call' from my editor saying she wanted to buy my book. I can't believe it's four years already - and somehow I've written 16 books. I look back on this time and to be honest it's all a bit of a blur. But the one thing I do know is that these anniversaries and birthdays just seem to be coming faster and faster. Uh oh - time really does speed up the older you get doesn't it?!

Knowing that makes me want to seize what time I do have and make the most of it. As my little twins are now 'big' preschoolers I want it to slow a little ... and I am so grateful to my husband for taking a zillion one-minute-movies with our camera so I can be reminded of so many little things that are so easy to forget. And I simply must write down all the funny little things they say (like the 'I Spy' game we played the other day and one of my just-turned-four year olds said "I spy with my little eye something beginning with two letters: three and four...").

Much of my time is spent looking forwards - I'm always planning or organising, every so often it's good to stop, turn around and look back and say 'well hey, wasn't that fun?' (And occasionally, 'phew, I'm glad that bit is over'). I don't think we take those reflective moments often enough, especially when life is mad, frantic busy and you're running just to keep up. So birthdays and anniversaries are great things to make us stop and celebrate :)
Of course, I'm such an addictive planner, here I am planning to pause!

Is time speeding up for you too? Got any tricks to start to slow it down? Do you like to use birthdays or other special occasions to have those 'hooray and yay' remembrance moments?

6 comments:

Joanna St. James said...

oh yeah i have just the one kid, a month before his birthday I start looking at pictures of how he was the year before, its amazing to see how far the little ones have come isnt it?
Thanx for this reflective post :)

Pat Cochran said...

Oh boy, is time speeding up for me!
I now wish I had been lucky enough
find a way to slow it down. I'm not greedy, I would have shared with everyone on the planet. I'm sure
everyone would be happy to enjoy a little more time on Earth!

Pat Cochran

Natalie Anderson said...

Yes Joanna - it's amazing how fat they come in such a short time!!! hooray for digital pics :)

Natalie Anderson said...

Pat - you're so right - it's amazing how much faster its all getting isn't it?! And somewhat scary!!!!

Mary Kirkland said...

Ya know my mom used to tell me that when you get to be an adult that the years go by really fast. I never beleived her until I was one and now they years go by so fast. My daughter is already 19...when did that happen.

Donna Alward said...

Four years and sixteen - yep. I just handed in a novella that makes 17. Hard to believe, isn't it, Nat! It seems an age ago that we were newbies together!

And all I can think of is how big your twins must be now!

D
xx