Chronos and Kairos Time
Motherhood is hard. Whether you have one little one or a herd like I do, it’s not easy. It’s a lot like climbing a mountain. Along the way, it’s really hard. Occasionally, you’ll see amazing sights, and the end result is incredible. But the getting there is not easy. And it always seems to be on those harder-than-average days that some well-meaning person always tells you how sweet your kids are and reminds you to enjoy these moments.
I’ve always found that a bit hard to swallow. I’m supposed to enjoy having Joshua scream every single time I change his diaper? I’m supposed to enjoy having to strap everyone into my car because no one can do it all by themselves? I’m supposed to enjoy commiserating with the mom in A Christmas Story who hadn’t eaten a hot meal in fifteen years? Really?
Someone else agrees with me. Earlier this month on Facebook, a friend linked to a post about motherhood. I loved it. You can find it here. Go read it. Really, go read it right now. I’ll still be here when you come back.
Back again? Isn’t the post wonderful? It summed up so much of what I think about parenting. The vast majority of motherhood is spent in the chronos time of which she writes. The diaper-changing, seatbelt-buckling, dinner-feeding, bum-wiping, fight-refereeing, housecleaning time of our days. Not always very fun, but unfortunately, the stuff of which our days are made.
Then, though, there are the Kairos moments, the moments that the sweet old ladies in the store remember. The moments that remind you why you decided to become a mother, and why most of us will do it again. When Joshua gets a solo bubble bath for the first time ever. When Nathan (successfully) sounds out a word as he’s trying to learn how to read. When Emily makes your hair fancy with all your quilt binding clips. These are the sweet memories to treasure up and remember.
So as you go about your busy days, dealing with the less-than-pleasant details of chronos time, don’t forget to enjoy the Kairos moments snuck in here and there. They’re there, and they make chronos completely worthwhile.
Have you enjoyed any Kairos moments recently? What were they?
