Five More Minutes

Dear Emma,
There was a time when your only response was “Five more minutes.”
Like when we’d yell “Bedtime!” at the top of our lungs, from the top of the stairs.
You’d shout back “Five more minutes!”
Forgetting that you’d already said that five minutes ago.

“Five more minutes!” as your dinner that was tirelessly prepared for you gets cold.
“Five more minutes!” as you’re already late for school.
“Five more minutes!” as we just want to call it a day.
In those moments before bedtime, before dinner, before heading out the door,
it could feel like the longest five minutes.

Meanwhile in those minutes, you defeat a dragon,
you cook up the best donut broccoli dish,
you master the art of making a mess,
you place that last block on your tipsy tower,
you colour in that last little spot to complete your masterpiece,
and you finally place that last missing piece to the puzzle and you feel like a champ.
It’s in those minutes, you play like it’s the last, best five minutes of your life.

Emma, today you turn four!
Everything you do, you do to the fullest.
When you play, you play hard.
When you work, you work hard.
When you love, you love with all your heart.
Because of you, we never go a day without joy in our souls and love in our hearts.

As we continue to add up the years, I realize life is one big countdown.
We’re always looking ahead, planning ahead to the next thing.
Counting down to the end of the day, the week, the year.
Counting down to that big trip, counting down to a fresh start.
Counting down to the joyous day when all you girls won’t need diapers.
And counting down to the dreaded day when all you girls need us less.

The minutes pass by way too fast and I’m reminded that I need to stop counting the minutes, days, years and start making it all count.
Today, we celebrate you and will love and cherish every bit of you.

Life is full of chapters, page after page of endings and beginnings until we realize everything eventually comes to an end.
Before you know it, our five minutes will be up.

Emma, It’s your time. Make every minute count. Take five, take the time now to do what makes you feel alive because there’s only one take in life.
Try your best until you’re all out of tries. Make the most of your turn until all your turns are over. Make it your best round until all your rounds are up.
Make the five minutes you have now count because it’s all you’ve got.
And make it the best five minutes ever.

Happy 4th Birthday, Emmy.

We love you every minute and not a minute less.

J