I never planned or even intended this, but as I look back, it seems many posts here on arnoldgirls.net are based on an academic subject. I see no reason to break with accidental tradition now…
Albert Einstein is famously reported to have explained the Theory of Relativity this way:
“Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT’S relativity.”
Relativity is key to making sense of the swirl that is life raising four girls under five. I’ve been keeping track of some practical applications of Einstein’s pithy saying over the past few months…
- To a toddler, three hours at Chuck E Cheese feels like five minutes. To a parent, five minutes at Chuck E Cheese feels like three hours. Also, Chuck E Cheese may be the modern gateway to the Underworld. Or at least Satan’s living room.
- Maya was “the baby” and seemed very tiny until Ella arrived. Then she seemed huge. And a lot older. And I started wondering why she wasn’t potty trained and dressing herself and maybe getting her own apartment yet (she’s only 16 months, but still…).
- Ten years of waiting for the twins to arrive seemed like forever. The five years (this month) since we hear our first good news (“you’re pregnant!”) have gone by in a flash. One day I woke up and we were a family of six.
- Having two babies at once seemed like an insurmountable task. Now we sometimes talk about how simple things were back in the good old days, when we had only two kids to keep track of. Especially in the mall. Or at the park. Or in a restaurant. Or on a plane.
- I used to need at least eight hours of sleep to feel functional. Now if I get four or five uninterrupted, I get the sensation I’ve been Rip Van Winkled and may be waking up in a different century.
And maybe most of all, the smallest things are now the biggest victories. First smiles. First swims. First bites. First words. A lot of things that seemed mundane and ordinary are fresh and full of wonder. It’s like learning to live all over again – seeing the world with new eyes.
And that is relatively superb!
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Boy, does that post resonate. LOL.
And if I have to try this reCAPTCHA one more time, I’ve giving up and declaring myself permanently disabled.