Time is so precious. It definitely seems to be going faster, I guess that comes with age. And no matter how early the day starts, or how late it ends, there never seems to be enough of it. There are so many demands on our time each day. Some of them are welcome while others are just necessary. I have high hopes each day of all that I will accomplish before evening falls, but those hopes rarely turn into reality.

So many demands – all the regular taking care of a home things (which, in all honesty, are the first to go when I’m short on time), all the regular having a 2-year-old things (which take up pretty much all my time), finding time to cook so we can eat a little healthier, finding time to exercise (the second to go) so we can live a little healthier, a little time for hobbies so I can keep some amount of sanity, and the list goes on. And now we add back into the mix, time for therapy. Coming home was magical in many ways for James, but he did not suddenly start eating again. It seems some kind of therapy will be needed.

Therapy has been a bit of a hot topic for me since James came home from the NICU. Through my job in ECI I’ve seen the benefits therapy can have on children. Now that I’m the parent of a child in ECI, I also see the strain it can have on a family. At one point last Spring we took a break from everything for a couple of months. I felt the usual guilt at first of not knowing if that was the right decision. He needed therapy to address his delays, but we needed time to be able to go to the park when we wanted to or go for a walk when we wanted to. I wanted days that weren’t pre-scheduled, and time to let natural development occur. I think mostly I needed some time to feel like a normal family. Not the right decision for everyone, but it worked for us.

We slowly added all of his therapies back into his schedule. We found a balance that worked; a way to preserve the precious times and a way to meet James’ need for therapy. We will find that balance again as we address these new challenges. We all have something that gives us perspective on what’s truly important and those are the things we make time for. I know I won’t sacrifice any of the “regular having a 2-year-old things,” those are some of my favorite times. But I’m willing to let go of the “taking care of a home things,” like I said, they’re always the first to go.