Ten Minutes

These last few weeks have been grueling physically and emotionally. We've had so much going with illness, camps, the fair, family gatherings, birthday parties and a death in the family. The kids are tired and grumpy and I'm fighting a flare -up.

I wanted to make sure I spent some time connecting with each of my kids today, but I knew it was a rough day physically and my energy would be very limited, so I set a goal of 10 minutes of focused individual time with each kid.

The first one took me for a walk out to the other end of the property to show me her secret place, the second one opted to do a craft together, and the third didn't like any of the ideas I suggested and couldn't come up with any ideas of her own that didn't involve screen time, so reluctantly sat with me and had a bit of conversation for 10 minutes.

I'm not sure if I should hold firm to my "doing something together that allows for interaction and doesn't involve screen time" rule for next time, or if doing something like playing Minecraft together would be more positively relationship - building than forcing a conversation with a kid who doesn't really want to be there.

It took us about an hour to accomplish 10 minutes of focused time together with each of the three older kids by the time we figured out what to do and whose turn it was to watch the baby with each one.

By the time it was done I was exhausted, hobbling painfully, and needed a nap (perfect timing since the baby was ready for some quiet time too). But I'm glad we did it. I'm hoping to work it into our routine on at least a semi -regular basis.