Since Olivia's birth, I've tried hard to make time for Nick, but really didn't realize how poorly I was doing. Nick came to me one day about a week ago and asked me if I would read a book with him while "Olivia is happy eating her snack." I thought it was an odd request at the time, because usually both kids eat their snack together. Nick had just asked me to skip his snack...for anyone that knows him, this is major. I was sure he was coming down with something. Then, it dawned on me.
Nick knows that the only time I can spend one-on-one time with him during the day (when it's just me and the kids) is when Olivia is happy. He saw a golden opportunity to have me to himself for a few minutes and pounced on it. What a smart kid! So, we've been trying a new approach to this. So far, so good. I'll update you on that later.
So now, instead of both kids waking up from nap and sitting down at the table for snack, I put Olivia in the high chair for snack (since she has far less patience than Nick) and Nick and I sit at the table and do things together. I put together a tote of "table activities" consisting of art supplies, play-doh, puzzles, activity books, and board games. He gets to pick whatever he wants to do at the table with me (I do still have to stay close by with Olivia since she's only 10 months old...) while she eats. Then, we reverse the process. When she is done, Nick and I clean up our activity and I fix his snack and play with Olivia. It's a win-win. Everyone is happy and Nick is getting his much needed one-on-one time. As a side bonus, Nick also loves to do the "table activities" while I am cooking dinner so that buys me some time for that also. He gets really excited for that time and I love having it with just him.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment