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"Some nights I look in on our sleeping children before I go to bed. I watch their softly tousled heads slumbering on their pillows, and sadness wells up in me. Have I drunk in their smiles and laughter and hugged them, or have I just checked things off my to-do list today? They're growing so quickly. One morning I may wake up and one of my girls will be getting married, and I'll worry: Have I played with them enough? Have I enjoyed the opportunity to be a part of their lives?" -- Janet Fackrell
You know that spending daily special time with each child is a really
good idea. But playing with your child, snuggling on the couch, really
listening to his story about how he plans to dismantle the jungle gym
tomorrow while the girls are climbing on it -- you just don't have time,
right? Squeezing "special time" with each child into our hectic daily
schedules seems impossible.
After all, you have to get dinner on the table and get everyone fed and
bathed and the dishes done and lunches made for the morning and fold
the clothes and then he gets out of bed again wanting another drink of
water and you still need to return that phone call and pay that
bill......the list is endless.
And yet, children who feel connected to us are much more likely to
cooperate. So much less struggle, frustration, argument. Life becomes
smoother. You get out of the discipline business. They even separate
from you more easily at bedtime. Maybe you can't afford NOT to put
daily special time on the list.
Besides, your list is infinite. But your child is not. As the mother
of two teenagers, I can tell you that the cliche is true. Your child
will be grown and gone before you know it.
The good news is, kids who feel cherished and connected are likely to stay connected once they're launched into their own lives. When you ask them for special time, they're likely to squeeze you in.
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