in the moment...

i haven't been on here in awhile... busy with an almost 2 year old...

but i read this today and wanted to document it somewhere... i want to be the best mom i can be for my sweet little girl...

i hope these things help me..

There are many ways that you can just be with your children that are not hard work, that are not challenging or tiresome. By just being there, you may discover that your child will reach out to you simply because you are suddenly available. The magic in this list is that it’s just simply being together for a solid half hour or so but it offers up the most beneficial memories we can offer to children. Here are some of our family’s favorites:

1. Turn off the TV/computer/phones for one hour. (In our house, we limit daily screen time to a total of one hour except on movie nights).
2. Have a work hour — they do homework and you work on a hobby like art or reading while sitting at the same table.
3. Just listen to music. At our house, we call this a dance party.
4. Light a candle for your children — one each.
5. Surprise them with a celebration for trying hard on a test or homework and eat store bought cookies and milk.
6. Sit on the couch while they play and read magazines. They will sit next to you eventually and ask, ”Whatcha reading?”
7. Grab two balls and challenge everyone to find something fun to do with them outside.
8. Snuggle under a blanket or put a puzzle together.
9. Whip up a nice bowl of ice cream and laugh while you eat it.
10. Watch TV with them if they insist on watching.
11. Ask them open-ended questions about their day.
12. Tell them something surprising about your day.
13. Draw together, taking turns adding new lines on the same paper.
14. Take a drive, taking turns picking the direction and sitting in silence as the unfamiliar landscape passes you by.
15. Look at their baby photos.
16. Tell them a funny story from their younger days.
17. Tell them a funny story from your own childhood.
18. In fact, tell them any story you can think of telling.
19. Ask them to teach you how to do something. This is big. Very big.
20. Ask them questions about their favorite things.
21. Help them clean their room or the basement or the garage. Whatever. Lend a hand.
22. Ask them for help with a problem.
23. Hold a family meeting to just catch up.
24. Announce that there will be no cleaning for just one day.
25. Give them a coupon for a hug to use anytime they need it.

What kinds of things do you like to do with our family to just relax and be together with little expectations?

here is to being a better mommy... :)