Getting Over the "If...Then's" in Life

Do you ever find yourself living in a sort of "If this...then that..." or "When...then..." sort of view of your life. I've been struggling so hard the last few months to get out of that mode. It is not a great place to exist really. I hear myself saying in my head all the time things like: "When I finally don't have to change diapers anymore, then life will be so much easier." "When my kids can zip their own coats and put on their own socks and shoes, then we'll get places on time." "If my kids would just use their utensils and napkins, then the kitchen chairs (and the rest of the house) wouldn't be so sticky." "When I don't have to carry a diaper bag anymore, then I can actually have a purse." "If my kids could put themselves to bed, then I'd have more time to do the things I want to do at night." The list could be endless. I like to tell Brian there is a country song about everything. This one goes to Alan Jackson and his song "Remember When" about the twists and turns of life and how things change over time, especially your prespective. My favorite line has always been about "the sound of little feet" being the music you have to dance to at this stage of my life. It says 30 used to seem so old and now it's just a stepping stone in life. There is so much more to come. So how in the drudgrey of life, when I am worn down and at my wits end some days do I remember that some day... I'll miss the toys on the stairs that mean my kids are having the time of their lives using their imaginations to create and play together... I'll wish my babies would snuggle in my lap as we rocked in a dark nursery together in the silence rather than stay out late with friends and go to high school football games... I'll want to put on their shoes and socks and zip their coats as I search for ways to help my kids and wonder when it was that they stopped needing me...