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Mar. 22, 2007 - lotsa kids
We are parents of multiple children. 5 to be exact, ranging in age from 9 yrs to 1 yr. And they are all completely different. Is our time divided fairly and equally among them? Probably not. Does each child KNOW how special they are to us and how much we love them? *Most definently!
We're a homeschooling family, so we feel blessed to be able to be spread our time throughout the day, as opposed to just a few hours between school/work and bedtime. This makes it much easier for us as they all have thier own special 'teaching time' everyday.
More than anything, we are big on activities that we can all do together. For example, we all love to read. So we do alot of family 'Read Alouds'. Sometimes we read and other times we just sit back and snuggle while one of the older children read. We're also known to randomly pile the whole crew into the suburban and just drive. Playing music (Worship or Holy Hip~Hop depending on whose controlling the cd player lol)and chatting about what we see. Telling silly stories and singing silly songs (think horrible renditions of Veggie Tales Silly Songs with Larry) that just crack us all up. We have made alot of memories in that truck :) Ironically we all really like fast toys ... 4 wheelers, go carts, gas powered skateboards ... so sometimes we do that too. I think our favorite thing to do is plop down on beanbags and just play with the baby for hours.
I was going to say what a challenge it is to give them each thier own individual 'special' time. But as I sit here pondering our days, I have to admit that it's actually pretty easy. It just seems to work itself out naturally as we go about our day.
Right now our oldest son's TIME needs are mostly centered around his DAD...sniff sniff. His bes days (according to him, are the ones that he gets to go to work with dad, or to work on 'thier' car together. They will also randomly drive around banging thier *Holy Hip~Hop for all of the world to hear. If they are late they can most lkely be found down the road at the mud pit. Ok, so it technically wasn't a mud pit..but it sure is now! lol. Other times they go fishing, just chilling together in the quiet night, talking and looking at the stars.
Our girls are content to follow mommy around and be "the greatest" helpers ever. They will follow me from room to room while I clean, wiping walls, tables, and anything else they can find with baby wipes. They also LOVE to help me cook (er..well, mostly just hang around me and talk talk talk about what we are cooking). They're avid laundry helpers too(hey somebody has to put all of those socks together right?) ANything I am doing, they are right beside me doing thier own little girl version of it :)
The youngest two, they are never lacking for attention. Our 2 yr old son just demands it...whether you have the time at that moment or not. His *most favorite thing to do is to grab something, ALWAYS something that we need mind you, and the run as fast as he can to make you chase him. Usually it's things like...the oven mitts that i need to take dinner out of the oven before it BURNS, or the cell phone that is ring ring ringing with that oh~so~important call that we've been waiting for. But the best part of 'his time' is at night when he asks me in that sweet little toddler voice "mommy you come pway wif us?"
And the baby, our baby according to the kids (although if I remember correctly none of them carried her around getting kicked in the ribs for 9 months) she is just so cute and sweet and lovable that many times fights break out to see who can get to her first when she needs something. (not like physical fist fights or anything lol). And of course, mom and dad can't resist her when she comes crawling up to snuggle or pulls up on our legs with her chubby little arms stretched out to pick her up. And even if we were so hard hearted that we could ignore her cute little drooly face, we certainly can't ignore the LOUD MAAAA or DAAAAA that accompanies it.
I guess what it comes down to is that you don't have to "set aside" a certain amount of time for your children to know that they are an important part of your family. Just letting them chill with you and be a part of what you are doing as you go about your day will make them feel special and loved:)
His grace love and peace to you and yours,
heather
Comments
Mar. 28, 2007 - I agree!!
Posted by MooseBerryMountain
Golly, your family sounds a lot like ours... my son who is going to be 8 in a couple of months, feels the same way about his "dad time"..even if they are just in daddy's truck checking oil wells, it is special to him, and we too go on family drives...we never know where we are headed but like Aaron says, "we'll know it when we get there!!".... isn't it funny how many people always make those comments about "quality time" and that you can't possibly be giving each child the attention he/she needs! Every second of our day together is quality time... Just being with each other and enjoying each other and growing together!
I love your post!!!
Mar. 30, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by ArrowsInOurQuiver
Heather,
Oh how I loved reading your blog! Your family sounds wonderful...probably alot like ours will be in just a few years. I am 23 and my husband and I have been married for 4 years. We have 1 son, Noah, who turned 3 in March, 1 baby who Jesus took home very early in our 2nd pregnancy, and 1 daughter, Anna Beth who turned 1 in Feb, and one baby on the way. Before we ever married, Will and I knew that the amount of children that we have would be left completely in God's hands. We are to trust Him with every area of our life and we knew that it was not up to us to make our own choices in this most important aspect. How many children He would bless us with to raise as soldiers and ambassadors for Him. I have heard so many people say exactly what you talked about in this blog, why do you want to have so many? You won't be able to give them the time they need, or the things they need. This is a very frustrating question and comment to me, especially since most of the women whom I hear this from do or plan to have their children in public school...not that there is anything WRONG with public school, I just believe it is MY job and My calling to raise my children and invest as much time in them as possible. I really struggle in this area and have to pray that God will allow me to be wise in the things that I say in response so that our life will be a light and testimony of truth. My comment, many times has been...a lot of what I have said above plus, explaining that even if I have 20 children, by homeschooling them, I am able to spend more time with each of them each day, than you spend with your few, and I am, most likely able to devote more time to teaching and investing in each one of them as a teacher than your children's teachers who's classes usually average 20-25 students. We trust God to provide for all that He entrust to us to raise for His glory and know that His guidance and protection is over us. Thanks. Your post was very uplifting! Keep it up!
Charity
