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.
