My "Do It Now" List

As important as it is to remember that life doesn't end when our last child leaves home, it is even more imperative for us recognize that time will arrive much sooner than we think.

Which is why, on the back of my "Empty Nest List", I keep a "Do It Now" list — for all those fleeting pleasures I want to enjoy to the fullest while I still have opportunity to do so:

- Rocking my babies

- Hugging my toddlers

- Encouraging my teens

- Making love to my husband

- Praying with my family

- Going on bike rides

- Serving delicious meals

- Reading classics aloud

- Calling my mother

- Counting my blessings

It is often the small things that mean the most to our little ones — homemade cookies fresh from the oven, a love note tucked under their pillow, a pat on the back for a job well done, a smile when they enter the room. If we are not intentional about how we invest our short time together, we will find it slipping through our fingers. And once it's gone, there's no getting it back.