On Monday, Lindsi did a post titled 9 Ideas for One-On-One Time With Your Child. Today, I’m going to emphasize why it’s so important to do ideas like these, and spend one-on-one time with each of your children.
As you may know, I recently reviewed the book, “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff for Moms.” In my review post I said that the chapter “Make Special Mommy and Me Time” really struck a cord with me. You see, I spend a lot of one-on-one time with Tottie. She is my youngest, isn’t in school yet, and hasn’t made many friends who’s houses she can go to on her own. I feel very connected to Tottie because of the amount of time I spend with her. On the contrary, I spend little to no alone time with Nutty, my oldest. She just finished Kindergarten, has many friends, and always has to deal with her little sister being around when she is home. I feel like I do not have a strong bond with Nutty.
To be honest, I don’t think Nutty and I ever had one-on-one time after Tottie was born until a few weeks ago. Hubby had to help his parents out for a few days so he decided to take Tottie with him while Nutty and I stayed home so she could go to school.
I think I needed alone time with Nutty as much as she needed it with me! We ate pancakes for lunch AND dinner, went to the zoo, and rented a movie we knew Daddy wouldn’t like and Tottie would be too young to enjoy. More than the actual activities we did, were the things we talked about and the bonding we enjoyed. Nutty reminded me that though she is much more mature than her sister, she is still only 5 (almost 6) and she is not as independent as she appears. She is still my baby.
It was nice to do things with Nutty and chat with her without interruption or yelling at someone (Tottie) to stop bothering us. I could give Nutty my full attention and I loved it as much as she did.
The “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff for Moms” book says special time together “reinforces your bond, helping the child to feel secure, special, and loved.” My one-on-one time with Nutty definitely strengthened our bond, made her feel special, and made BOTH of us feel loved! I will now make special Mommy and Me times to spend just with Nutty.
When was the last time you took one of your children away for some one-on-one time?
It sounds like a wonderful day! Pancakes all day really sounds great!