Maximizing Our Time

The apparent theme for my life right now is that time flies.  There just never seems to be enough hours, days or weeks to accommodate all there is to be done.  I guess the more honest phrasing of that should be that there just never seems to be enough time to accommodate all that I want to do.  And as the time slips away, I just can't get it back.  Choices have to be made.  Priorities have to be declared.

I love boring life--the routine, the stability.  Vacation are exciting.  Visiting with friends is refreshing for the soul.  Special circumstances are...special.  But I also appreciate that part of life that isn't so exciting, refreshing or special.  Laundry, dishes, school, chores: the routine.  My kids are sweeter and better filled when we live with routine.  My house is cleaner, which makes life generally more pleasant. 

And really, if regular life isn't what I live for, what am I living for?  If I am grinding through the daily toil just to get a breath on the weekend…. Well, what an exhausting way to live!

But if I can fill our days with what is important, there is no reason to hold my breath while going through it.  I feel that I have so much more to give my kids before they are gone to adulthood.  I panic when I think how little time there is left for me to give to them.  So I need to put into the daily life those important things--the things they will carry with them.  I can't just wait for the breaks to make things special.  Each day needs to be important.

So, help me out here.  What do you do routinely to build the family bond and memories?  Do you have any special traditions?  What tools to you use to get through the tough times?