4 kids is a lot. To those of you with more than 4 kids, my hat goes off to you :). Every mom is busy and my 4 have definitely kept me on my toes. Just the normal day-to-day stuff takes up my entire day (ie: feeding, dressing, chauffeuring, changing diapers, etc) thus leaving little time for one-on-one contact with each of my kids.
Don't get me wrong, I talk to each of them and spend most of their awake time with them (minus Wade while he is at school) everyday, but I never get the quality one-on-one time for longer than a few minutes each day, which lead me to think of a new idea: DATE NIGHT.
I have heard of other parents doing date night with their kids before, so, by no means, am I taking credit for this genius idea, but I am reporting how WONDERFUL it was to go on a date with my, little Seth.
As previously mentioned in other posts, Seth is, bless his little heart, my most challenging child. He is my most clever, most stubborn, busy child. I love him so much (of course), but I do find myself having the hardest time maintaining patience with him. With all that being said, I think I know why he is the way he is. Seth needs more attention.
This past Friday night, Seth got my undivided attention and it was SO MUCH FUN! Seth knew he and I were going to go out because Wade and Matt had gone out the week before. I asked him where he wanted to eat and he insisted on "Cafe Rio." I told him we could go wherever he wanted so he and I made the half hour drive to "Cafe Rio."
Seth, like my dad, is a talker. He likes to talk just to talk and will do so about anything. During the drive, while eating dinner and getting ice cream after, he and I had several conversations. We talked about "Curious George", the size and ages of our family members, the colors of the chairs, trees and much more.
Seth eyes sparkled the entire time and I have never loved my little guy more. As cheesy as it sounds, it was magical ;). He just drank in the attention and loved every second of it. I, too, loved to hear his little voice chatter on and on about things that are important to him. I couldn't wipe the smile from my face.
It was an eye-opening event that has changed my outlook on Seth and parenting in general. In these couple of days following our "date" I have found that it is easier to be patient with him and I feel like he has mellowed out a little bit. He has grown up so much in the past two days. To put it shortly, I think this one-on-one time was long overdue and has changed the two of us for the better.
I highly recommend date nights with your kids. I can't wait for my date with Wade and when Trent is old enough, we will add him to the rotation as well. Guaranteed fun!
