Somehow I often get caught up in thinking that memories for my kiddos are created in "the big things."
Today my iMOM email was titled "There's no present like the time," and it was a reminder of how children crave time with us and our undivided attention is the best thing we can give them.
The conversation starter at the end was, "Do you know how much I love you? If we could spend more time together, what are some things you'd like to do?"
So when Kylie woke up from her nap while Caleb was still snoozing, I asked her.
I'm not sure what I expected her to say, probably something like, "Let's go to the zoo," or "We could go out to a restaurant" (she loves eating out), or "We could go shopping at the mall so we can ride the magic stairs." But what I didn't expect was her real response...
"We could dry dishes."
"Um, sweetie, I mean sometime when Daddy might watch Caleb and you and I could go somewhere. What would you like to do together with just Mommy?"
"Well, we could dry dishes together with towels AND then we could do puzzles."
And so we did. We dried all the dishes out of the dishwasher, standing side by side, chatting the entire time. Then we did puzzles.
Figuring
"I got it!"It was a great afternoon! It was a reminder that my undivided attention is SO MUCH more than flashy toys, going out, or spending money. In this current busy season, the reality of that chopped me off at the knees. What she wants is so simple, why do I continually try to make it so complicated?
15 comments:
This would be the post I'd choose to broadcast to the world today. It's SO about the little things, and unfortunately, we are often too busy to take advantage of those special times. Many of us (myself included) need a wake up call to dry dishes and do puzzles more often!!!
What a great post! You are so right, and I also get caught up in doing these "great" things that are staged for photos and such, but I'm sure Anne Marie would say something similar -- I'll have to try asking this question one day. And by the way - I love the puzzle! So cute!
Great post. Great reminder.
Well said and a great reminder that all our kids want is us!
How precious is she! And what a great reminder to all of us, especially during this busy season. (Plus, we love wedgits!)
Such a sweet girl.
If there was ever an "out of the mouths of babes" comment that should be shared this is it. A game of Princess Yahtzee and Olivia is thrilled to no end. I'm so glad you reminded me to take the time for the small things.
~Lynn
p.s. Wedgits-the best thing I ever bought!!
can I borrow kylie for a few days? I have many dishes that needs to dry out :) and Emily and her can bake cookies and eat them too! (and I will dry out the pans and plates for them, I promise :)
so precious!
Wow, so true!! Great post! And, I love that Kylie dressed for the occasion:-)
How precious. Never thought about drying dishes as a special time to share together. Children never stop amazing me!
LaoLao
What a great reminder! Aren't we blessed to be able to take the time to do the little things with our little ones? The things that tell them they are important and matter greatly to us. You're a blessed Mom and Kylie is a blessed little girl.
So true! Its tempting to buy Noah lots of toys but he's so happy with a spatula and curling up to read books. Great post!
So, so true. My kids continue to ask me to "just sit" with them. They want me to "stop doing" and "just sit." All they really want is us.
Awesome!
Aunt Cici
Looks like you both "got it!" This is truly one of the greatest lessons of motherhood. So glad you learned it while they are young. It took cancer for me to really get this...I can be a slow learner :0)
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