A little one-on-one time

Making time for each of my children is important to me.  And it’s important to them, too.  Especially with my kids coming and going from one house to the other – together – I find it sometimes difficult to split them up.  They appear to come as a set.  But they are two separate little people that have separate needs.

They thrive off of attention, especially one-on-one attention.  So, scheduling little dates with each of them really sets my household up for success.  I’m very lucky that my husband (who is not their father) supports this 110% and helps make it happen.  He will often do something special with the other child or hang out with them at home, while they both get projects done or enjoy a little down time.

While my son had a birthday party to attend last weekend, I took the opportunity to take Little Diva out on an adventure in downtown Madison.  We enjoyed the find hour of the Madison Farmer’s Market and had lunch outside on State Street.  We window shopped, I treated her to a couple of treasures from various vendors and we enjoyed a few pieces of fine chocolate.  The opportunity for us to connect – alone – is always amazing and offers me time to tell her just how proud I am of her.

Dates with your children don’t have to be expensive or extravagant – or even cost a dime.  They can be simple.  Sometimes, the highlight of my daughter’s day is an evening walk around our neighborhood together at dusk.  She opens up and talks about her day and enjoys grabbing my hand and not having her brother fight her for it.

The other day, I took Little Dude out for an active date on my favorite trail.  After he got a taste of this spot earlier this summer during a geocaching excursion, he’d been begging me to take him out there to run/bike together.  So, that’s what we did.  We completed the five mile loop together and enjoyed the scenery, some exercise and fun conversation.  We even had a small family of deer cross our path, which he though was absolutely amazing.

Date ideas for one-on-one time with your children:

• Create your own book club and schedule time to discuss the book
• Have a sleepover with your child in the living room while the other child(ren) have friends sleepover in their bedroom
• Research a project on Pinterest and purchase/gather the supplies together
•  Visit the library and read books together in the park