What super power would you pick if you could have one? My youngest asks me this question regularly. I always say teleportation. Who doesn’t want the ability to twitch her nose like Samantha Stephens (Google it, ya young’uns) and end up on a beach anytime you feel like it?
But the superpower I really want is to slow time.
For a while longer, I want to be able to keep my girl at the age where she asks me what superpower I want. I want her to stay the size that I can (just barely if I stand up straight) rest my chin on her head. For a little while longer, I’d like her to ask me to tuck her in every night. Because that time is going to be gone in a blink.
She’s eleven and a half, and before I can blink, talk will turn from her favorite animal and best fort building strategies to crushes and lip gloss and then to summer jobs and college. My oldest is only two and a half years from college, in fact. I desperately want to slow time and make these two years stretch to fit in all the things I still want to do with him before he goes. It really is true what the old lady at the grocery store told you—it goes so fast.
So can we slow time?
Of course, we can’t change how the clock works, but what we can do is change our perception of how quickly time passes. Have you noticed how the drive to vacation seems longer than the drive back? Have you felt an afternoon at work drag on for what seems like days while others are gone before you even notice? Our mind experiences time differently depending on the work it’s doing. So if you want to feel like time is moving slower, here’s how.
New Experiences
When I was a kid, time seemed to pass slowly. Summer break went on forever. Scientists say that new experiences and constant learning make us feel like time is slower, which is one reason days felt so long when we were younger. As daily life becomes routine and learning new things less frequent, days can pass without anything memorable standing out to mark the time.
To make time feel slower, increase new experiences. Sure, a trip, surfing lessons, or dinner at a fancy restaurant are new, fun, and memorable, but new doesn’t have to mean expensive or time-consuming. Creating new memories can be as simple as taking a different route to school, visiting a new ice cream shop, or hiking at a new park.
During a recent school break, the kids and I took a drive through Kentucky to a farmers market I wanted to check out. Then, instead of taking the highway back, we rode Anderson Ferry across the river. Another day, we tried Cincinnati’s legendary Zip’s burgers for the first time, which also led to a drive through neighborhoods we’d never visited before. Neither of these days was particularly exciting, but they were memorable simply in how different they were from our usual days.
These small adventures will be the days I remember when I think back on my motherhood memories, not the days we stayed home and cleaned or watched TV. Our minds count moments, not minutes. So the more moments we can remember, the more time we seem to have.
Plan Something
Which day feels longer—a workday when you have nothing to look forward to but going home to cook dinner and do laundry or the day before vacation? Looking forward to something makes time feel slower.
Not only does time seem to slow as we wait, but anticipation leading up to an event increases our enjoyment and memories of it. So whether it’s planning a vacation or a day trip to a nearby town or riding the new coaster at the local amusement park, make more plans. It will remind you to add more new experiences to your routine, give you things to look forward to, and ensure you’re making memories with your kids.
Pay Attention
Mindfulness is a buzzword showing up everywhere, but there’s a good reason. Focusing your attention and being in the moment can help slow our perception of time. When I am doing something special, I try to soak it all in. I pay attention to the sights, sounds, and smells around me. It also means limiting technology, taking photos, and capturing memories in writing.
Why not do the same for the time with our children, for the everyday moments and not just the special ones? I want to remember exciting days, but I also want to remember the smell of my son’s hair after a shower, the extra weight of my daughter as she dozes off while we sit on the couch, the sound of my three teasing and laughing while playing ping pong in the basement. It’s easy to stay busy and distracted, but to slow time, I have to slow my attention. Focus. Soak it in.
Of course, none of us can make the Earth turn more slowly, but we can influence our perception of how time passes. After all, we’re moms. Superpowers are our specialty.
