The Importance of One-On-One Time With Your Child

On Monday, Lindsi did a post titled 9 Ideas for One-On-One Time With Your Child.  Today, I'm going to emphasize why it's so important to do ideas like these, and spend one-on-one time with each of your children.

As you may know, I recently reviewed the book, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff for Moms."  In my review post I said that the chapter "Make Special Mommy and Me Time" really struck a cord with me.  You see, I spend a lot of one-on-one time with Tottie.  She is my youngest, isn't in school yet, and hasn't made many friends who's houses she can go to on her own.  I feel very connected to Tottie because of the amount of time I spend with her.  On the contrary, I spend little to no alone time with Nutty, my oldest.  She just finished Kindergarten, has many friends, and always has to deal with her little sister being around when she is home.  I feel like I do not have a strong bond with Nutty.

9 ideas for one on one time with your child

Source

With 4 kids it is difficult to find time every day to devote to one on one time with each one of my kids. It doesn't happen each day but I make sure they each get special time frequently. We call it "special time" because it usually involves something extra special.

1. Bowling- when was the last time you went bowling? My 5 year old, er um 5 1/2 year old, loves this special time. Sadly, he often beats me. The bumpers in the gutters deflate when it is my turn to bowl and I often end up right there!

2. Arts and Crafts- many stores have great arts and craft ideas in their dollar section. My kids don't really know it costs only a dollar so they don't care but, my daughter especially loves when she and I have crafty time together.

Hand Print Sunflowers

Ready for a super easy, super cute, super fun craft? Hand Print Sunflowers! 

Here is what you will need:
a small paper plate
yellow construction paper
green construction paper
brown construction paper (or a brown marker)
sunflower seeds
glue
scissors

Dump Cake

Don't let the name of this tasty treat fool you! It is SUPER good! My mom introduced our family to this recipe a few weeks ago and it has been a frequent request since then.

To make this Dump Cake you'll need:

• 21-24 oz Cinnamon Spice apple pie filling (or plain apple pie filling and 2 tbsp cinnamon)
• 1 box Duncan Hines yellow cake mix (must be Duncan Hines without pudding in the mix)
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• 1/2 cup coconut (optional)
• 2 sticks of unsalted butter

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Kristy from Hear My Hands is a masters level certified Signing Time instructor in South Jersey. She has been a member of the Sign2Me Presenters Network since 2006. She created Hear My Hands after completing a research study using sign language and hearing infants. Kristy has a wonderful online store available on her site that offers a range of tools and books to help you learn sign language and teach your kids as well. You can view Kristy's post HERE. We hope you will take a moment and visit Kristy at Hear My Hands and let her know you are visiting from Toys In The Dryer.

 

Rebecca and Carol are the owners of Make Home Cents.  Their blog features a variety of ecofriendly and safer products for the house, home and body. They feature Melaluca products and you can view our review HERE. Melaluca is a company that has been been offering wellness products for over 25 years. They pride themselves on constantly seeking out the safest products for your home and body. We hope you will stop by Rebecca and Carols site at Make Home Cents and let them know you are visiting from Toys In The Dryer.