Quality Time

For months my husband and I have been trying to figure out the best way to make the most of the 1.5 hours we had with our two boys during the work week before bed time.  Although we both would struggle with not showing our exhaustion and stress from being at the office earlier that day and show our kids "I'm excited to see you and spend time with you as much as you are!" we couldn't find the right balance.

Attempts to do everything together with our two young boys (now 2 and 4 years old) we realized that the needs of each was difficult to tackle at the same time in such a short period.  From having them alternate what they wanted to do each night or us picking an easy win of watching a Leap Frog video for 20 minutes before reading books we were about to give up.

I know that I was very lucky that both my husband and I could be home with the kids for dinner and bedtime most of the time but it pained me that the small window of time was not ideal or best used.  After months and months of unsuccessful attempts I finally came up with an option that made us all happy.

Every night we would split - then switch, for example:

Monday: Mama and 4 year old would do an activity that 4yo would pick while Papa and 2 year old would do an age appropriate activity for the 2yo.  Then after bath Mama would read books to the 2yo and put him to bed and  while Papa would do the same for the 4yo.

Tuesday: Mama was with 2 yo and Papa with 4 yo then after bath time they would switch...

and so on...

It's been about a week of this and I have to say not only do we feel we get to have some one on one time with our kids and build a bond but at the same time the kids get to enjoy an activity that they love and grow.

Sounds simple right?!  Just wish my brain would have as much energy as my heart when it would come to these types of things sometimes.