How My Heart Longs for Just Five More Minutes

When my children were growing up, it was all I could do to keep a roof over their heads, food on the table and to give them what they needed.

I’ve always spent a good bit of time working and not just at the office. It seemed even when I was not at the office, or chasing a story, or selling some advertising, I was cutting grass or repairing something or doing what it took to raise a family.

There were those times when I did get to spend time with the family, but there were also a lot of times I missed family things as well.

Looking back, if I could change all that I would. Of course I can’t, but those words, “Just five more minutes,” do haunt me sometimes.

Don’t get me wrong; I spent time with my children and my grandson, Eli, who lived near me when he was younger. I have two grandchildren in Texas that I don’t get to see often, but I’m always thinking about them.

I guess the point I’m trying to make is that time has gone by quickly and those four words, “Just five more minutes,” keep going through my head.

If you are a parent you know those words well.

If you tell a child no more television, they will respond, “Just five more minutes, please.”

If you tell a child it’s time to come inside for the evening, you’ve heard those words – “Just five more minutes, please.”

I’m not sure how many times I heard those words from my children, Brannon and Bethany, over the years but I’m sure it was a couple of thousand.

Normally, I would have the same response: “No, it’s time to turn off the television,” or “No, it’s time to come inside and get ready for bed,” or “No, Daddy has something to do and we have to go now.”

Funny, during those times I never really gave much thought to “Just five more minutes” when my children made the request. However, I have thought about it a great deal since they are both grown and on their own and I don’t get to see them as much as I would like or want to.

While I can’t remember all the times they asked for “Just five more minutes” there is one particular time they did and, while I was going through some old memories not to long ago and wishing they were around, that one memory came rushing back. Then I began to question how many times they asked for just five more minutes.

It was a very cold Christmas Day. The kids had both gotten three-wheelers for Christmas and they were riding them around and around our house in the country.

I would go outside and yell for them to come in and warm up, but they would respond, “Just five more minutes, please.” Normally, I didn’t cave on such things, but it was Christmas and they were enjoying their gift, so I let this one slide.

A few days later, Bethany began to complain about being a little sick. Then she became really sick. She came down with a pretty bad flu bug. Now, I’m smart enough to know it wasn’t just the cold outside that brought on the flu bug, but it sure didn’t help any, and I felt really bad until she got better, because I shouldn’t have allowed just five more minutes.

However, if she hadn’t got sick for those precious five more minutes, that memory would probably have never stuck so vividly. I’m thankful that I can remember that day, the look on their faces when they saw the three-wheelers, the joy they had riding them, and the fun they shared as brother and sister.

Now that I’m older, and time has passed, and they are both grown with lives of their own, I realize just how important all of those five more minutes were.

For them, the five more minutes would have been just for the fun they were having at that moment. For me, though, it would have been five more minutes that I could have watched them play, and even spent more time with them.

Today, I wish I had given them five more minutes for a lot of things. I miss them both more every day as I grow older. I know now that life is about making priorities, and mine has always been to provide for the family. I’ve done that and I’ve sacrificed while doing so, but family should always be the top priority.

Here’s my advice to the parents and grandparents reading this column: spend time with your loved ones and make some “five more minute” memories before it’s too late for you to do so.