As a mother, do you ever find yourself getting so caught up in ALL the activity in your home that you are not able to just sit back and enjoy the days with your little ones? Sometimes I find myself doing so many little things in a day that I forget to take time to really enjoy my kids. It seems strange seeing as I am home all day but it happens!! As mothers we need to be intentional about making time to spend with our kids. There are days when I get to the end and realize I haven’t really spent much quality time with them. It’s easy to be present in their lives but to set aside undivided attention is essential to make those strong relational connections! Life with little ones is definitely a unique, fast and unexpected ride; one that I really want to enjoy!!

I have found it helpful to set aside time each day to  focus only on the kids. Now ideally, it would be amazing to set aside all my time for them but that is just not realistic. I need time to run our household and they need to learn that Mommy has things she needs to get done in a day so that our family can be provided for. I have chosen specific times each day to devote to only them. When we wake up from 8am until 11am my attention is undivided. This is when we do homeschool, play games, go outside, read books together, play dress-up, go on a little field trip, etc. It is a time when I am not answering my phone, not doing laundry or dishes, not sweeping or doing anything other than making them my first priority. From 11 until about 3, we eat lunch and then everyone has their nap or quiet time and THIS is the time when I spend cleaning up, doing dinner prep, sweeping the floors, journaling, reading doing whatever needs to get done. Once everyone is up again from about 3-4pm we spend more quality time and then they take time from 4 until daddy gets home to play together or go outside. This doesn’t happen every single day but when we are home I try to stick to this schedule.

I have found that it makes such a difference when I take that uninterrupted time for them, we get more accomplished and we are are able to sit back, relax and enjoy each other. I find that time already flies and my children are growing up so fast, the last thing I want is to look back and regret spending quality time with them. Some of my favorite time are; listening to their stories, watching their puppet plays, playing pretend salon, battles with knights and dragons, having car races, eating all sorts of fun creations from their play kitchen, playing Mr. potato head, colouring together, and talking about God.

What are some ways you could rearrange your schedule to ensure that you are maximizing your time together?

May your connection with your children deepen this week. May you sit back and enjoy these simple and sweet times together and may you give thanks to the One who gave you these precious little lives!!!