When you have multiple children, it’s hard to give them all undivided attention. It’s almost impossible most days, really. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. Siblings (and learning how to share Mom’s attention) are good for building character. That said, sometimes I do miss the days when I had 1 kid to focus my attention on. Right before bed I would mentally go through the day and think wow, that was awesome one on one quality time we logged today. I haven’t said that to myself lately and it was bothering me. Two Sundays ago, I wanted to take my 6 year old to a place where we could share some of that good quality time we used to have together. We went to “Zoo Howl” at the Franklin Park Zoo and although I forgot her costume, I did not forget how to connect with her. I so enjoyed listening (really listening) to her thoughtful questions and observations. I took time to slow down (really slow down) and watch her agility on the playground. I let her get ice cream before lunch (without making a big deal out of the sugar) and I sat down at the craft table and watched (really watched) as she made a spider hat for herself. I learned that she wanted to be an investigative reporter when she grows up; she had brought a pad and paper and wrote down facts and clues about the animals she saw. When we got to the U.Fund Dreams tent, she asked if she could take a picture with her baby brother because “he can be anything he wants to be when he grows up, too Mommy.” She knows the drill here. 
After we got home, I went upstairs to put away some laundry and got back down to see this sitting on the table:
I stared at that note and vowed to always stay invested in their interests; and reminded myself that the best gift we can ever give them is our time.
-MIM-
In partnership with Fidelity and MEFA.
