Seize the Moment.

I recently asked a client who she viewed as her biggest competition. She looked me square in the eye and replied:

"Time. Time is our biggest competitor."

It struck home. Her target demographic is moms. I paused for a minute which I believe is crucial in any meeting to let it breathe...give it time.

Time. We never really quite have enough of it, do we? As new moms we are constantly told to:

"Enjoy every moment. They grow so fast. It gets better and better, but before you know it...they will be GONE. And you will be ALONE. And it will be SAD SAD SAD."

The cliches seem to fall out of mouths like library books falling of shelves during an earthquake. And it's okay. Everyone has an opinion, but it puts such a pressure on a new parent to seize the moment and if we aren't seizing, we are failing.

Time.

Just tonight a woman stopped at our table and said, "Enjoy this stage. Pretty soon he will be 12 and you won't be able to just sit here like this."

I enjoyed this moment connecting with a mother who I knew loved her kids just like I love my kid, but when he's 12 I sure hope he isn't sitting in a stroller. I appreciated her advice, but I kind of want to just enjoy the moment without all this pressure to constantly be enjoying the moment.

Jack will get older. He already has. He will grow up. He will evolve. He will maybe get married. He may even have kids of his own. And I'll enjoy those moments too. But for right now I just want to enjoy the moment in my own way. And when he's 2 and 4 and 12 and 42, I want to enjoy those moments too in my own way.

So next time I see a brand new mother and I feel the urge deep inside to pounce her like a hyena, I may refrain and admire the way she is enjoying a moment with her new baby. Sometimes silence is the most beautiful thing.