It's that time of year when I start thinking about New Year's Resolutions and examining what works and doesn't work in our routines (or lack of them) at home.
top ten things I want to accomplish each day.
One thing I struggle with is having a balance with the two children. I spent so much more time with Bear as a baby, reading to her, chatting with her, playing with her. I am guilty of often placing J-jo on the mat next to us and focusing all my attention on Bear. He's happy and satisfied, but my Momma heart feels like I am not doing my best with J-jo.
Here's my list:
1. Quiet time with God every morning and night for at least ten minutes. I used to be so diligent about taking the time to read my Bible, pray and journal before I had Bear. Then, J-jo came along and I've given even less time to the one who has blessed me with all my earthly treasures (my husband and children, of course!). I think I can manage at least ten minutes, even if it means reading my Bible aloud to the baby as I did this morning.
2. Meaningful time with my husband. It's so easy to put the kids first. I just want to make sure that my husband and I connect each day and have conversations not laced with kid talk.
3. Morning prayer and Bible time with Bear (and J-jo if he isn't napping). It's really important to me that Bear gets into the habit of praying. We say grace and bedtime prayers, but I would like to add one more dimension to it. We have been reading her Bible daily since it arrived and I want to continue doing this, but I also want to read to her from the actual Bible occasionally.
4. Minimum of 20 minutes of reading to each child. I probably already read this much to Bear if not more, but poor J-jo probably doesn't even know what a book is! (Kidding!) He joins us in Bear's read-alouds, but I need to read his books to him too (Bear has quite sophisticated taste in books for a two year old and I'm sure J-jo would much prefer Sandra Boynton to Jan Brett for example).
5. At least 20 minutes of focused one-on-one time with each child. Again, Bear gets plenty of this, way more than 20 minutes, but J-jo gets the short end of the stick. It's my goal to do more "activities" with him (such as walk around the house and point things out to him, pick up an object and tell him about it, sing songs and nursery rhymes to him) on a more consistent basis.
6. Daily outside time. This one has been very much neglected since the birth of the baby.
7. Reinstating rest/nap time for Bear. I've succeeded in having her take naps a few days in the past week, and I need time to
8. An art, craft, or sensory activity each day. We definitely already do this between play dough and painting/drawing. It is very important and needs to be on the list so it doesn't get abandoned accidentally.
9. A music activity daily. As a teacher in my previous (before children) life, I know the importance of music in children's lives. We sing a lot of songs and nursery rhymes together but I want to make sure we listen to a wider variety of music and play with Bear's instruments a bit more.
10. Housekeeping chores (dishes, sweeping, you know...that horrible stuff I'd rather NOT do).
Maybe this will keep me from trying to accomplish so many things and feel like I am not getting any of them done!
I enjoyed your post. We share similar goals. I think I am going to do a post like this, as well. It would be helpful to be able to go back and reread. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed Nicole's "top ten" list too, and yours is quite similar. I would like to come up with something along the same lines.
ReplyDeleteI also really liked the post. I am definitely going to write mine one of these days. I can see that you feel guilty on not spending enough time with J-jo, but remember - he does learn from everything big sister does. Siblings are often better teachers, and I really wish Anna had someone to play with and to teach. Alas, my husband is not on board with this idea :)
ReplyDeleteI can relate to much of this as a fellow mother of two. It is tricky to balance both of their needs, isn't it? As my baby grows older I realize that I need to do more playing/learning type activities with him and not just snuggle up with him...and then I'll realize that my toddler needs more snuggling and not just playing/learning type activities with me. I think that it's especially difficult to find the balance for everything because little babies/toddlers have constantly changing needs!
ReplyDeleteAnyways, thanks for stopping by my blog. I'll have to stop by yours more often. :)
I am 4 months pregnant right now and my little girl will almost be 2 when this baby arrives. I have been having a lot of insecurities about being able to spread my time equally between the two. I'm worried that I will focus all my caretaking on the newborn and not do as many activities with my 2 year old as I would have. I definitely can identify with what you are feeling.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely something I can related to as well. I share some of your goals, especially the one about getting some daily time outside. Thanks for sharing your list! I know you feel guilty for not doing more with your younger child, but I'm sure he's learning plenty from watching you interact with his big sister!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your list. I know it must be difficult to balance time with two children. Obviously I don't have any advice, just the thought that you are a very loving mother to even be concerned about this fact, and I'm sure you do a much better job than you think. It seems mothers always feel guilty about something and yet at the same time are always doing so much more for their families than they even realize. You are a GREAT mom!!
ReplyDeleteI worry about how the tradeoff will happen when I have two kids! (I didn't realize you had 2!)
ReplyDeleteI agree about Sandra Boynton. But note: my boy is an only and there was a period of time when he wouldn't let me read ANYTHING to him. Sandra Boynton is a favorite now though. I can remember the joy when he finally sat on my lap and let me read him a book when he was about 13 months old. The first Sandra Boynton was _Doggies_
Another good early Boynton is Moo, Baa, Lalala
On the topic of feeling like you're neglecting the baby (in comparison to Bear). Remember he is feeling loved right now because you are there next to him and he is getting all the stimulation he needs by being right there with you. So don't feel too guilty.
ReplyDeleteGreat list you've come up with, I need to sit down and figure this out for myself too.
Oh, and suggestion for getting more music exposure: pandora.com. You type in the type of music you want to hear and it creates your own "radio station" for you to listen to on your computer or Iphone, wonderful program.