No Rewind, No Replay

“No rewinding, no replay
The chance we lose today
Will be gone, when it’s gone
We’ll never be quite as strong
Nor as young as this again
Make them last, make these moments last
Right now.”               -Jose Mari Chan, No Rewind, No Replay

I’ve always loved Jose Mari Chan’s songs because all his songs really pierces through the heart. Simple lyrics, easy to follow melody, but very meaningful and would always have the listener relate to the song.

This morning before I started working, this song just came to my mind and I searched for it on YouTube. I found one with a very beautiful message at the end of the video. It really got me teary-eyed. And I wish that I can freeze time so I can hold the moments I have with them forever. But who am I kidding? That is wishful thinking.

If you have kids, you will surely relate to this song because this reminds us that we are forever evolving. Our kids will eventually grow up, have families of their own and as parents, where do we go from there?

I have a fear of growing old, of being left alone by my kids when they’re all grown up. That is one issue I have not really thought about because I have always evaded the thought. You may say that  it’s too early to be thinking about that when my youngest kid is just turning 4. But hey, it’s not too early to be thinking about  how we want to retire.

There are times when we feel as though we are on a never ending task of parenthood. Well, at some point it is true. We sometimes feel overwhelmed by the piles of laundry, the stacks of pots and pans that never seem to stop piling up even though doing the dishes is all that we seem to be doing every now and then.

I am not a perfect mother. And I never did wanted to be one. Because a perfect mother only existed in books, in magazines and in the imagination of the advertisers who want to use that fantasy to bring in more revenues to their products.But I always do my best to become the best mother my children can have.

To call myself a perfect mother would be akin to denying myself that I am a normal person, with my own set of flaws and shortcomings. But this doesn’t give me the excuse to be a bad one either.

Me and the kids back then

 

There were times that I tried to do what I think was best for my children and that included working on holidays for lack of being productive. But because I work from home, I have plenty of time to look after my kids while I am working.  And so, even on holidays, I would inform my boss that it is a holiday here in the Philippines, but I would still be working. I thought that doing chores and motherly duties wasn’t productive. Thank God I have a very understanding boss, he said that we should balance work and play. Even though I would insist that I would still be working, he would always tell me to spend the extra time with the kids. And I would always argue that I am working from home, that I am always spending time with the kids. I realized what he meant by that was to bond with the kids.

The kids now..

 

And so back to the song, it made me realize that no matter how busy we are, we should always take time to listen to our children, to attend to their needs. We should enjoy every moment with them while we still can because we can not rewind everything that is happening now and relive it when we are old.

Sometimes we find ourselves caught in a dilemma where we have to choose between two important things, family or work. I cannot speak for everyone because we have different priorities in life. What I can only offer to say is, choose the one closest to your heart. For me , it’s my family, my children especially. After all, the reason why you are working so hard is family right? What good would all your efforts and money be when you lose the people that matters most.

But then this is not only for those with kids or families. For my single friends, if you have a special person that you want to share more special times together, let them know, for we cannot afford to lose the chances we have right now. Life is short. Let’s make our moments together special all the time.

Thought for the day:

Our lives are not like the movies. We cannot hit the replay or rewind button when we want to re-live those special moments with special people. Instead, we have the ring button that we can always press when we want to spend time with our loved ones.

♥