<p>Written by Lisa Bergkoetter</p><p>I like to get things done. I like to be efficient. I walk fast, I talk fast, and I multi-task. Or at least I did, until I had toddlers.</p><p>My boys like to take their time. Putting on shoes is at least a twenty-minute task. A walk to the mailbox? 45 minutes, if I’m lucky. Every bug must be examined, every sound investigated and every question asked. There are days I think this pace is going to kill me. I wonder if the desire to be fast and efficient is somehow going to explode out of me until I am confetti on the grass, something new to slow us down.</p><p>I have to remind myself there are beautiful things in this world to look at and learn about. Life isn’t actually about jumping from one task to another so fast that at the end of the day we fall into bed exhausted only to start all over the next day. I vowed when they were still in utero that I would teach them all this world has to offer. I would nurture their curiosity and encourage them to ask questions. I want them to be excited about learning and interested in new things. But somehow the day to day chores just demand attention and I forget the promises I made myself about how I was going to raise my boys.</p><p>Each day I have to slow myself down. The real task I need to get done each day is to teach my kids something new. I can multi-task showing them love, patience, respect and value all while teaching them that we treat others the way we want to be treated. I can run fast to teach them the games of tag and kick the can. I can get things done with their “help” all the while teaching them that chores are just part of a daily routine. My house may be messier, my dishes may sit in the sink a bit longer, and an e-mail or two may go unanswered until tomorrow. But at the end of the day my boys and I learned that a butterfly lays the eggs to make more caterpillars, and a substitute for brown sugar is white sugar and molasses. I may be too tired to fold the laundry tonight, but my boys are tucked into their beds knowing they are what is most important to me. One day they will be grown and I will have time again to walk fast, talk fast and multi-task. But then again, maybe by then I will have learned to take in the world around me through the wondering eyes of a child and leave some things for tomorrow. </p>