With a new baby sister in the house, spending quality time with my children is important. Mommy and son or daughter dates are one way I make quality time for my children. I feel it is important to spend one on one time with your children. It builds a connection between you and your child, and creates feelings of security, love and self-worth. Many times as parents we become wrapped up in our daily lives, and we forget to set aside special time with our children. Dating your children does not need to cost much. Here are five date ideas for you and your child.
1. Take your child out to eat. When Tristan was a toddler I did this every Saturday morning while his father slept in. It was mommy and Tristan time, and is something I wish I could still do every Saturday with him.
2. Spend time doing what your child wants to do, and give them the choice of the activity. My daughter Keira loves to spend one on one time coloring, snuggling in my bed while she watches her new favorite show Mike The Knight.
3. Take your child on a walk or a bike ride, and let them do the talking. Kids have a lot to say when given the chance. Even when my son was still learning to finally speak, he wanted to tell me about things within his little world.
4. Do activities with your children that you like to do. I love to cook, and now at a very young age all my children spend time cooking with mommy. My kids love to cook with me because I let them do most of the stirring, throwing ingredients into a bowl, and taste testing. This special time also encourages them to love cooking, and I hope it becomes second nature to help in the kitchen as they grow up.
5. Find something that inspires your child. Every child loves something dearly, and they will do anything to spend time with that object or activity. In our home, PVC pipes are a huge hit, and you will find them in bathtubs, the toy box, and even in my son’s bed. My son Tristan is obsessed with PVC pipes, and he loves to make stuff out of them. It is fun to watch his little mind work as he figures out which pipe to put where to make his creation grow. After his pipe structure is built, he loves to place all types of objects within the pipes. These include grapes, balls, and other miscellaneous small objects to roll down and out of his so-called slides. Many water spills from pipes running over from sinks have occurred, but the joy he gets from pipes make my heart happy.
This particular date involved a visit to my favorite place to shop in the entire world Lowes Home Improvement. A new store opened up a couple months ago only minutes from my home and I had not yet been to it. I told Tristan we were going to look at pipes, and his brown eyes widened with excitement. He was as happy as I was to go to Lowes and spend some quality time together. When we pulled up to the store, the parking lot was desolate with only a spattering of cars here and there. The automatic doors opened and that familiar buy me now smell hit me in the face. This store was smaller compared to most Lowes stores I visited, but it did not matter because I was home. Hand in hand with Tristan we skipped past chandeliers and ceiling fans, the multicolored kitchens with their nice granite counter tops, and finally we came to plumbing.
“Look at all the pipes!”, exclaimed Tristan jumping up and down excitedly. He grabbed this pipe and that one as he carefully inspected each one while he told me all about it to include the color, the shape, and what he could do with it. It was a priceless moment. Several minutes into our date a Lowes employee asked if we needed assistance, I told him no we were on a date with pipes and mommy time. He smiled at Tristan and said “Have fun with your mom young man!”
Tristan showed me little pipes, big pipes, green pipes, white pipes, and pipes that looked like the letter R and T for Tristan. Some pipes were so heavy he needed help to put them back into their places. Forty-five minutes passed quickly, and we needed to go home so I could nurse his baby sister. He was sad to leave, and wished I could buy him every pipe in the store, but I told him we would come back and play at Lowes again.
It is so important to spend quality time with your children. These are only five ways to date your kids. What are some of the ways you spend time with your kids? Do you also have dates with your children? I would love to hear about your ideas or things you have done with your kiddos.
XOXO,
Amee
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