Possibly my favorite time of day is, "Mama and Baby Time." Me being "Mama," and my not so tiny fourth grader being "Baby." Mama and Baby Time was invented by me as a way to prevent my growing up too fast daughter from growing up without me. My "baby" being the social creature that she is, I oftentimes come home from the workaday, to find her on the phone. Let me tell you, if there is one thing my daughter likes to do, more than anything in the whole world, it is talk. She talks pretty much all of the time whether anyone is listening or not. You might be able to guess, that these phone conversations can go on indefinitely, and often do. This situation, and others (life being what it is) can get in the way of bonding moments. How are we ever going to develop a Gilmore like bond if I never even get to hear about her day?
Thus, the invention of M & B Time. It works like this: I walk in the door, and no matter what else is going on, we count to three and say, "Mama and Baby Time!" and then we run and cozy up on whatever bed happens to be made, and she gets to talk, and tell me about... whatever she wants. That is the deal. And I listen. For 5 minutes. Sometimes it goes longer, but I am guaranteed 5 whole minutes, and so is she.
This precious time of the day is important. It makes up for crazy schedules, and the moods of 9 year olds, which can make supposed to be precious moments like tuck-in time into well, that really sucked moments instead. But never mind about my night. How was yours?
Yes, the photo is a complete non-sequitur. Don't mind me.
3 comments:
Sounds like a good routine to me! We had an Owen and Mama day Saturday. It was nice to just be with him and do whatever we wanted. Moments like that pass quickly so we ought to enjoy every minute we can.
What a great idea!!! That will be something she will remember FOREVER. Life can and does get so busy and crazy we ALL forget to make time for each other. And of course your 5 minutes to talk with Maddie will be very important once she gets into her teen years. By then you will already have established a bond, trust and a routine that will make it completely comfortable for her to talk with you. Enjoy!
Of course I knew about M and B time but not the details, I love it. And I had to smile at the part were you tell about Maddie talking pretty much all the time. Actually I had to smile at the whole posting.
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