How do parents manage to have one on one time with their children in a (sort of) large family?
Have you ever wondered that question? I have – and I have one of those rather large (larger than average?) family … so how do I spend individual, concentrated time with each of the girls?
Growing up, we had Appreciation Days for my siblings and I. So if it was my turn, it would be a G.A.Day – Gillian Appreciation Day. You were treated special, allowed treats and extra special activities – even down to choosing your favorite meal dinner for the family. I loved it!
Well, since all the girls are named with an L name, our appreciation days are all L.A Days so instead, we’re calling them Parent-Child Dates!
In the past, we were doing daddy-daughter dates, which are fantastic, but that left me out … and also, it started breed a feeling of expectation whenever the girls were chosen to go out. For instance, the girls began to expect that a date out meant money spent, a token purchased, or something along those lines. And really, it’s more about the time together, not the money spent.
So we have opted to do them in a different way. I read about this second way here on Raising Arrows.
One night randomly selected (depending on the week), one girl will be allowed to stay up late while the other girls go to bed early. The chosen girl can decide an activity and a snack of their choice. They can choose to go for a bike ride, go out for ice cream, paint toenails, watch a movie, take a late night swim, eat a special treat and have fun with mom and dad!
We had the girls draw straws tonight to see who would go first … shortest straw won and it was Lacey, our nine year old.
While the six year old cried because she desperately wanted it to be her turn (God’s teaching her patience!), Lacey was thrilled to bits! You could see the excitement in her eyes and she giggled and chose ice cream sundaes as her snack and chose to watch Sarah Plain & Tall (a book we just finished reading together) … how I love that she has the same tastes of her mommy!
Now, time to go cuddle up and watch our awesome movie together! Happy Canada Day weekend!