I have to admit...I have always LOVED alone time.
Even when I was little I would request to go into my room, close the door, turn on music, and sing, dance, color, draw, or especially write. I loved to write. I guess that's why this little blog has been a bit of therapy for me over the past few years.
Marie also enjoys alone time. She requests to go into her room and close the door every day at some point. I am not sure what she does in there all the time because I respect her desire for alone time, but I imagine it's spent doing many of the same things I used to do. She enjoy coloring, making crafts, playing with her barbies, horses, and reading.
Bennett is slowly starting to realize the value of a little peace and quiet on his own. He enjoys sitting in his room (doors must be open) and playing with his animals - cows, dinosaurs, lizard, frog, and shark.
However, they most appreciate when they get alone time with one of us...one on one without the other kids around.
So, this past week, I snuck in some "alone time" with Marie and Bennett.
Marie's Date:
I picked her up from school and immediately she reminded me of our special date.
She remarked about how thirsty she was and how she had been thinking of a strawberry smoothie all day.
So, we went to a coffee shop where she specifically ordered a "cold strawberry smoothie" with chips.
She picked out a table which was "too high for Bennett to sit at but we can because we are older than him."
We talked about her friends, our big move this summer, and "exactly how are we going to fit all our stuff into a big truck?"
I
could tell she had a lot of really important things on her mind and I
was thankful she was able to share them with me. It's amazing how old
she is now and how quickly "worrying" sneaks into kids' minds.
We ended our date with a pinky swearing that we wouldn't tell Bennett...our little secret.
Bennett's Date:
We dropped Marie off at school and decided we wanted more breakfast.
It was a "home day for Bennett but not for Marie!"
So, we drove over to a shop where they had chocolate chip muffins and juice.
He walked in to the shop and ran over to a big booth that was large enough for 14 people. It was the perfect spot to sit. He ran the length of the booth, jumped the length of the booth, and even crawled "like a tiger" the length of the booth sneaking in bites of his muffin every once in awhile. He wanted orange juice because "orange is my favorite color."
We talked about animals, who we saw in the shop and whether they were boys or girls, where Dad was ("at work") and what he does there ("helps sick people and mommies and babies like Brooksy").
We ended our date with a half-eaten muffin, spilled juice, and bump on the head.
Instead of walking out to the van I carried him because he was "still little and feeling very tired."
I could tell he appreciated being the big boy that morning but still needs to be my little boy, too.
 |
| still asleep after our trip home from our "date" |
Now that I'm a mom, my alone time comes in much shorter increments and at times I wish for my childhood room where I could sing, draw, write, and be alone for awhile. But I know our kids are little for such a short time so I am doing my best to sneak in moments like these as often as I can.
