In a family with four children we have to work hard to make sure that each child get’s some ‘one-on-one’ time with Mummy and/or Daddy. Sometimes this has been made possible for me in particular if we have been invited to blog events which are mostly aimed at one child as I have then taken them on their own and we have enjoyed a fun day out together doing something different. Other times we have to work at it and block time out for each child.
Before Christmas Beanie Boy was awarded his Gold Award at school for behaviour and hard work. We always use this as an opportunity for the Beans to choose their own reward and this time Beanie Boy chose a trip to the cinema for quality time with Mummy and Daddy to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Obviously with all the Christmas festivities, family get togethers and trips away we ran out of time over Christmas but promised that it wouldn’t get forgotten. It did! A couple of weeks ago Beanie Boy tentatively asked me if we had forgotten about his trip to the cinema and I shamefully admitted we had but thankfully it was still on at the cinemas so all was not lost.
Last weekend we arranged for Nanna to look after Little Bean and Jelly Bean for the evening so that we could go out. In preparation for watching the latest Star Wars instalment Beanie Boy watched his way through his Star Wars boxsets. On the evening we discovered that the only showing was to be a 3D film which meant that Beanie Boy got his very own first pair of 3D glasses and a very cool pair of glasses they were too.
We arrived at the cinema in good time with a very excited Beanie Boy and as the film began, so too did the questions. Daddy and I were laughing at Beanie Boy with his inability to understand that we wasn’t at home and that he needed to talk a little quieter as other people were trying to watch the film. When he wasn’t asking questions, he was giving us a running commentary on what was happening and sound effects for the fight scenes. Thankfully, we were still able to follow the film even with his constant chatter, it just added to our amusement.
In the car on the way home (around 9.30pm he was still busy telling us his favourite parts of the film when suddenly all was quiet. We looked around to see that he had fallen asleep mid-sentence but with a half smile still left on his face. We might not get to spend lots of one-on-one time with each of our Beans but when we do, it’s worth it.
Obviously there are the times when we read together, play games and do homework but these are short, snatched periods of time. How do you ensure your children get some quality one-on-one time with you?