WFMW--Time Alone with Each Child

No real news flashes here, but something I need reminding about pretty often. Since I have two boys close together in age, the same things are usually pretty attractive to them. Train rides, athletic events or activities, toy stores...the usual. But each is his own little soul, and every once in a while they need one-on-one time with a parent. We need to get better about this but the dividends when we do it are awesome.

A few weeks ago, my husband woke our hard-sleeping older son at the crack of a Sunday dawn to head down to Bike Philly 2007, an event which closed some of the most scenic main streets in town to allow for some very family-friendly and amateur-oriented biking. The little guy (and the big one) were glowing all day from the special event, and both were proud that they said a cheery "Thank you!" to every police officer they saw (which was a lot!). "Some of the cars were really angry," my 3-year-old reported; "They said, 'BEEP! BEEP! BEEEEEEP!' But we were OK! And we said 'thank you!' to the police." How could it be any better than that? And Sunday, the Philadelphia Museum of Art had a great day for kids based on Picasso, so I took the littler guy and we went there. He loved the whole thing--the Picasso People puppet/dance show, the make-your-own-mask activity, and running around the Renaissance fountain in the European wing. We also did a lot of running down by the river and Waterworks on that beautiful day.

Each boy spends some time pining for the other parent (and the little guy for his big brother) but overall, they love the attention and the activity focused on them. It's hard to carve out the time or to get over the guilt of not taking both on an adventure but they do plenty together and need the one-on-one time. It sure it working for me! For other great ideas, go visit Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer.