Right before I gave birth to our second child, I took our firstborn out on a date, just the two of us. A last hurrah, if you will, before all of our lives changed forever with the arrival of our new family member. I will never forget that first intentional date with my little man! I took him to a local dairy bar for an ice cream cone. He was so little! He sat on the picnic table, facing me, with his wee little feet resting on my knees. It was a beautiful late spring afternoon with a nice breeze coming off the river…we enjoyed our ice cream and then I remained sitting, in all of my almost-due roundness, watching this wonder of a little boy chasing a butterfly around in the warm sunlight.
Fast forward 8 years later and we are still enjoying our once-a-month, one-on-one special outings together! Initially, I thought this would be a way for me to give some undivided attention to each child…to bless them with time & attention alone with Mom. What I hadn’t taken into consideration is how much it would bless ME! God has given me this gift of time with each of these four special blessings, set apart from the everyday busyness (laundry/meals/homework/music/sports/potty training etc) and it enriches BOTH of our lives. To hear them talk, uninterrupted by siblings, and to do special things together makes memories that we share and gives them the knowledge that they are treasured. These outings are simple but oh so valuable.
Some of our cost-effective favorites are :
~ hikes to explore different areas (FYI: boys LOVE this one!)
~ dress up & pretend (our daughter LOVES this! ***A great opportunity to buy dress up play costumes is right after Halloween when stores reduce the prices to around 75% off the regular price. We also just got a couple of great finds at our local consignment shop too!)
~ trips to our local art gallery
~ bike rides
~ trips to the library
~ drawing with sidewalk chalk (our boys love to help draw a little town – roads & buildings for their hot wheels to drive around on the driveway)
~ trips to the farm market
~ anything that has to do with acquiring snacks!
~ snowshoeing
~ snow painting (food coloring mixed with water in a spray or squeeze bottle)
~ sharing hobbies, like photography & music
~science experiements (www.pinterest.com has compiled many great ideas for experiments from a lot of different sources/sites/blogs, etc.)
~ special alone time at home in a separate part of the house from the other family members to do a board game, craft (which if you have boys they prefer to refer to this as a ‘project’ not a craft – haha), baking or reading a book series together. (A friend who has two grown boys recommended the “Little House on the Prairie” series which is now a hit in our home. It is interesting for boys & girls alike)
My husband is really good at having one-on-one time with each of our four children at random throughout the month. But, like a lot of moms, I have to mark things on the calendar to ensure that I can make it happen and not let the time go by in the midst of all the other activities that take place. And I am always so glad we do! It’s such a simple thing to share and encourage others in but the rewards are far-reaching! Being budget-conscious doesn’t mean you have to be limited in special experiences together. For those sweet ladies who shared their frustrations about their budgets with me, I would love to encourage you and share with you how much these special times have blessed me without straining the budget!