A few days ago, I was scrolling through Timehop and came across a picture from 12 years ago. It showed the bright and beautiful 5 year old face of one of my cousins. I sent the picture to my aunt with a message about my cousin turning 18 in a few days. My aunt’s reply was something that I really needed to be reminded of. I am going to quote her because it was really profound, ” I can’t stress enough for you to enjoy and absorb every day. Right now SiSi and Sawyer are little, and they will still be the next day, and next week… and when you think about them being 18 you push the thought aside and say to yourself “it is so far away, they’re still little, and now look, my baby will be 18. And I have all of these Facebook memories of her being Sawyer and SiSi’s age popping up. Just enjoy them being little, okay?” Let this be a reminder to all of us as parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, to really soak in our kids at whatever ages and stages they’re in right now. We live in a world filled with numerous distractions. Let’s face it, sometimes we are more focused on what’s going on in our phones and social networks that we forget that we have these beautiful little souls right in front of us, wanting our attention. ( I’ll be the first to admit that I am guilty of this, and I know a lot of you are too.) I don’t want my kids to look back and have memories from their childhood of me scrolling through my phone instead of spending time with them. I don’t want them to think that whatever was on Netflix, TikTok or Facebook was more important than focusing on whatever they were trying to show me at the time. I don’t want to look back when they’re grown and have regrets. I want to be able to have memories of authentic conversations and special moments with them. The little things that they’re showing us now, the time spent with them playing and doing what they want us to do with them, may feel unimportant to us. But to them it’s the most important thing in their world right now. Let’s vow to make 2022 the year we focus on what’s truly, truly, truly valuable.