One On One

One On One

• Friday, June 5, 2015

I'll confess to you right now that I'm not one of those moms that is constantly down on the floor with my kids playing cars & blocks. I do spend my fair share of time in the playroom building Lego creatures and reading books and tickling but I just don't feel like kids need to be entertained all the time. I have a million things to do during the day like cleaning the bathrooms, picking up 100 (thousand) messes, vacuuming, mopping, laundry, sewing, organizing, re-organizing...the list goes on forever. I don't feel guilty sometimes telling the boys when they ask me to play that I'm busy cleaning and they can go play together without Mommy. Jack knows that if he wants to spend time with me when I'm busy then he can "help" me clean the bathrooms or wash the windows or make dinner (joke! I never make dinner...), etc. And I promise you he is not any worse for the wear by being told "not right now."

I think kids actually thrive playing on their own and learning to self-entertain. Both of my boys can spend at least an hour alone in the playroom (like alone, while the other is napping) and be totally happy. It's nice knowing that they don't need constant entertainment or stimulation from me.

All that being said...I find so much value in regular one-on-one time with the boys. It doesn't happen all the time because that just isn't realistic but I do really try to focus on setting aside some time while one boy is napping to give my full, undivided attention to the other. I'm sure this will get even harder when Baby Sister comes along (and even more difficult) with each future child after that and "dates" might need to happen outside of the house more often but for now we're able to squeeze in some at-home mommy/son dates during the days and let me tell you how much I seriously treasure those hours!

^Jack & I had a date watching Toy Story and eating popcorn. (Besides taking this picture) I was extra conscious to put my phone away and had to really resist the urge to not check Instagram. Putting my phone away is definitely one of my struggles but Jack gives me good reminders when I'm not paying attention and tells me "put down your phone!" Hahaha! It's one thing I'm really working on and I try extra, extra hard to keep my phone out of sight during these one-on-one's.

^a little date with Phillip while Jack was still napping. Notice the Mr. Potato Head glasses on his neck hahaha.

 ^this little one lives for attention (and I would say needs it more than Jack) but unfortunately definitely gets less one-on-one time than Jack as there are very few minutes in a day where Phillip is awake when Jack is not. Phillip still takes two naps a day and his and Jack's afternoon naps pretty much match up perfectly.

^btw he is the neighborhood's greatest greeter. He waves to anyone and everyone who drives/walks down our street.

^Jack's favorite thing to do during one-on-one time is build lego creations (because Phillip can't knock them down). Almost every night he asks to "build just one thing!" before bed hahaha.

Aaaand just look how happy he is when he gets to run errands with Mommy on the weekends while Daddy stays home with (a napping) Phillip.

Some of our favorite one-on-one's with the boys include:

-Trips to the Target, the hardware store, or even just to the gas station.
-Lego building with Jack.
-Reading stories with Phillip (his very absolute favorite!)
-Riding in the jogging stroller while Daddy runs (the one not going always cries - they love this!)
-Movies with Jack
-Tickle sessions with Phillip
-Painting/coloring with Jack
-Yard work with one while the other naps (they both love "helping" outside)
-Chores with Jack. He actually really loves to help me with chores and he gets a sticker every time he helps. Once his sticker chart is full he gets a dime for each sticker. We have yet to do our first payday since we recently started this a few weeks ago and haven't filled up his 30-sticker chart yet! Pretty excited for the first payday haha!

As you can see, we generally try to incorporate "dates" with things we are already doing in order to have it happen more often. The boys really don't care what they are doing, they just love the attention! In fact, Jack always cries when he finds out that T & I are going on a date and begs and begs to come too haha. He only sometimes wins that fight.

Tell me some of your favorite "dates" or one-on-one's with your littles! Always looking for new ideas!

xoxo