Recently, I tried putting my 2-year-old daughter,
Gracie, down for a nap and she fought so hard that I finally gave up. She
walked upstairs to show her almost 4-year-old sister, Taylor, that she was
still awake. As soon as Taylor saw Gracie, Taylor fell to the ground and
started crying. I asked Taylor what was wrong, and she said, “I wanted Gracie
to take a nap so I could play with you.”
I’m currently in a stage where my children need
a break from each other and they want one-on-one time with me, A LOT.
Don’t tell my kids this, but as much as I
absolutely love them, and like them, and obsess over how lucky I am to have
them, I don’t really like to pretend to be Elsa. Don’t get me wrong, it was fun
the first 55 times, but I just don’t really enjoy it anymore. Admittedly,
I feel guilty for not enjoying “play time” more, especially when I remember
that there are some serious physical and mental health benefits that can come
from it.
My friend recently told me about a simple trick
that she does to ensure one-on-one time with her kids every day. She sets a
timer for 30 minutes on her watch and plays with one specific child the entire
time. She gives them her undivided attention and goes “all in” to whatever
activity her kid wants to do. I loved this idea, so I’ve been trying it out
lately.
I set a timer for 30 minutes and do whatever my
kids want. I’ll pretend to be a bird catching worms for my babies, I will
pretend to cook food in the fake kitchen, and I’ll play hide-and-seek like a
pro. I’ll help barbies solve an argument, and I’ll feed fake babies fake food.
I don’t do it because I like it, but because my kids love it! Purposely setting
aside the 30 minutes makes it much easier to focus on them and ignore my
never-ending to-do list.
I’ve also found it much easier to play with my
kids longer than 30 minutes when we’re doing something that I actually enjoy
doing too. We all like drawing with chalk outside, we all like building blocks,
we all like going “running”, and we all like the park. I pretty much enjoy
anything that gets me outside and so do my kids, so on particularly difficult
days, I tend to load up the car and head somewhere with shade. I’ve also done
an amazing job of convincing my 3-year-old that doing the dishes is fun, so she
loves to do those with me too.
Even though some days I’m reluctant to pretend
to be Elsa (usually the busy ones), I never regret doing it. When I get into
their “world” it’s easier to see things from their perspective. I’m always
reminded how sweet they are and it makes it easier for me to savor the moments
with them a little more.
Published in the Tremonton Leader in September 2019
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