To Beg, Borrow, and Steal (Time)

I've learned in the last two weeks that certain days are my melt-down days.  These are usually the days I have the most scheduled (of course I've also noticed melt down days are when I wait too long to make dinner, stay up too late the night before, or put my kiddos to bed too late).  So I brainstormed a few ideas for quality time on days that I'm more harried.  Of course, I have to be careful; there is always more do clean in my house than I can ever clean in one day, more to organize, more to do than I can ever get done.  I can't wait until things are "done" to spend time with the kids because things are never done.  These are just ideas for days with unforeseen events or other meltdown igniters.

Ways to squeeze in quality time on a busy day:

1.  Have children help make dinner. 

Yesterday I decided to turn our pile of over-ripe oranges into orange juice.  My six year old (Maia) asked if she could help.  I had a moment's hesitation-- my procrastinating self again!  Ideally I want to let my children help but I don't want to clean up the mess.  I let her help, and you know what, she was thrilled, and she only took a quick turn at juicing and she'd had enough.  We all enjoyed the fruits of our labors. :)

2.  Listen to a children's audio book in the car or while folding clothes.  Here are some I like: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/433399-corinne

3.  Make the most of a moment I have in the normal course of a day, like a walk to school, to learn about my child's interests, fears, or concerns or to look around at things we don't normally pay attention to.  Had one of these yesterday-- I noticed how gorgeous and fluffy white the clouds were!  We spent five minutes watching the clouds swirl and puffing and tried to find shapes in the clouds.  As simple as this seems, I'd never done this with my littlest ones, and I can't remember the last time I really looked at the clouds.

4.  Eat meals together.  In our family the books are more of a temptation than the TV...have to get everyone to shut their books so we can talk! 

5.  Take my child with me, if possible.  I play the organ at church and used to take one child with me each Sunday a little early in order to practice but it was fun bonding time being together, even though we couldn't interact the whole time.  (and my kids loved it; always fought over who came)

6.  Let them help me shop, and instead of focusing on the destination, find something fun to help us enjoy the moment.  (teach them about prices, let them help find something, race down the aisles when no one is watching)

7.  Make the most of wait times-- in the car, grocery store check out lines, at the soccer game-- to connect with my child.

Last night at dinner, someone started the "what do you want to be when you grow up?" game.  Everyone chose something fairly predictable, until it got to my three year-old, who said "I want to be a horse!"  We laughed and laughed.