This morning I walked downstairs to my kitchen to start the morning coffee and noticed one of my daughters sitting on the couch. She was just sitting there, not watching TV, just being still waiting for someone else to join her and trying to wake up. I asked if she was okay and she said yes, then all of a sudden a flash of joyous life lit up her face and she made the following request “Daddy, Can we make pancakes?”
Pancakes on a Tuesday morning work day? I began to run through the to do list of all that needed to be addressed at work, but then I caught myself “What are you doing? Your daughter just asked if she could do something with you.” I turned to her and said; “Of course, pancakes sound 
good.”
If you are a parent then there is almost a 100 percent guarantee that someone has said to you “Cherish this moment. They grow up so fast.” It doesn’t matter whether they are considered by most as the world’s best parent or not everyone says the same thing to young parents. “It goes so fast.”
Rather than allow the disgruntled side of me that would like to complain about this constant reminder from those who have walked this journey I will merely say that this morning those voices caused me to pause long enough to say yes to my daughter’s request. Our children want us not just to pay attention, but to do things with them, to teach them something through doing.
I think sometimes we parents make it too hard, too elaborate, too expensive. Sometimes it is simply saying “Of course, pancakes sound good.”
Rev. Shawn J. Smith 