I think people too much of a focus on making the most out of things. I am seeing it as a common thing among parents needing to cherish the time they have with their kids. This seems like a nice sentiment, but I think it leads people into poor decisions.
We don’t need to erect unnatural desires to find more meaning in life than we do. We aren’t made to cherish every bite of cake, deeply enjoy every second with a friend, and thank the universe for every individual breath of air. We have to normalize life and live as if we’ve been there before. Our deep sentiments aren’t an unlimited well of happiness.
Take the moments that make sense and feel natural to enjoy with people and things. However, don’t try to artificially create meaning everywhere. Your kids being 4 is awesome. Do you know what will also be awesome? When they are 5. 6 is also pretty cool, and 30 is also pretty cool. You can’t live in a constant state of making everything special … just live life and be a nifty person.
I don’t mean to marginalize the awesomeness of kids. They are great. I just think that people taint things by hoping for more out of moments than make sense. I don’t think we can just manufacture awesome moments through the inertia of “making the most out of it.” Great moments happen naturally, and non-great moments are pretty great in their own right. I think we’d be better off appreciating what is there to a reasonable degree rather than making the most of things.