Creating time

Back to the grind and the youngest kiddo is getting ready to head back to school, thankfully college boy will be home a bit longer before he heads back to school. I love vacation time as it allows us to log in true quality time as a family. I must admit the hardest part of being a mom who works out of the home is juggling all my balls and fitting in quality time when I am in the midst of wearing all my hats. The thing is my struggle is not unique, I think all women who are responsible for other humans struggle with making sure we do what we have to do as well as making sure we are taking time to truly be present with our families.

A few days ago I was hanging out with sassy 6 (that’s my new pet name for the girl child) and doing some crafting which frankly I suck at! My creative skills don’t really extend outside of the kitchen and sassy 6 loves to craft which doubly sucks since I pretty much never have any ideas. When suddenly as she was bouncing around singing how much she loved hanging out and crafting (we were painting pine cones for our nature table) that I did get an idea.

Winter Nature Table

 

Sassy 6 loves to collect rocks and tree branches and we have a branch that I stuck in a small vase some time back (yeah, I am that mom! I keep all her collectibles) when it dawned on me to create a craft idea as well as a project for the winter to keep us connected.

Wish Tree

 

I present to you the family winter wish tree. Taking the tree branch in the vase, I created some “ornaments” using construction paper, on the back writing down a “wish” for the day or week. Some of the wishes include: tea party, adventure walk, pillow fight, baking treats to share and so on. After I cut out the ornaments and wrote down the wishes, I gave the “ornaments” to sassy 6 to decorate based off what I wrote as the wish (putting her new reading skills to use) and then we hung them on our “tree”. The idea is that twice a week sassy 6 will pick a wish and whatever it is, we will do it as an activity at that time.

Kiddo Art

 

Now I imagine for some of you, maybe this is cheesy but let me tell you when I walk in the door after 5:00 and I am thinking dinner and chores, sometimes creating special time together is hard to do. My hope in creating the wish tree is that it will be the jolt I need to keep me present and connected regardless of what is going on.

A Walk

3 thoughts on “Creating time”

  1. Thus idea is not cheesy at all! It is a wonder way to share experiences and to bond. The biggest mistake you can make as a parent ( according to me only) is too not actively participate in a your child’s life. I will use this idea in my clinical setting!

  2. I love the tree and I’m glad you shared a picture! That’s a very creative idea. Trying to stretch myself in a thousand directions limits the amount of time I can spend with any of the 5 girls or him or myself for that matter. A few months ago it was recommended that we give each of the older girls some baby/toddler free time each day alone with us and doing something they wanted to do even if it were just for 20-30 minutes. Helping around the house was taking a toll on them, their childhood, and happiness. I’m so tired and disorganized at night that it really never became a routine. We took walks together after dinner for a few weeks, we allowed computer time, etc but like I said never the routine. I think something like a tree or a box or bag that they can pick from maybe 2-3 times a week would be good for them. It’s evident I’m not yet able to give each of them alone time with me on a daily basis. Thanks for sharing with the rest of us!

  3. That is a super cute idea. I may steal it. My daughter is an art and crafter too and I’m really? No. lol

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