dates with mama

The bambini and I function as a unit most of the time.  By this I mean we are usually in the same area of the house together, sometimes doing things each on our own (lads playing trucks or dinosaurs while I unload the dishwasher and the lass unloads the contents of the plasticware drawer) or sometimes doing things together like reading or playing.  I usually take them all with me to the grocery store or on errands (and because of that have curbed the number of errands I run).

Our daily structure is one of togetherness, and that's the way it has to be.  None of them is old enough to be left unsupervised for much time at all, and they all still seek out my attention and interaction.   It's not that I am here to entertain them all day, but there is a lot of Mama-directed activity.  I hope to foster within them the imagination and drive to cultivate their own interests, but these things take time.

Each child needs and deserves attention, though, and lately I've been able to take each one on a "date" or two, just that child and me.  For the elder lad, it's been to doctor's appointments for such things as eye exams, allergic reactions, and check-ups.  Such appointments hardly constitute what I would consider *fun* times, but I've tried to make them so by afterward taking him to lunch or to a store he enjoys visiting because of the sweet rocket ship shopping carts this particular store has.  He gets to choose the music as we drive in the Bambini Ride, and he has a captive audience for claiming all the neat-looking trucks he sees. 

The younger lad was my date to the tag agency to renew my driver's license.  He didn't really care where we went, I don't think.  He just wanted to go with me.  That was just fine with me.  He also had a running commentary going the entire drive, but I had more difficulty hearing his soft voice from the way back of the Bambini Ride over the din of the air conditioner.   Nonetheless, his presence made the experience far more pleasant.  I welcomed the time with him.  His cheerful companionship more than makes up for the unfortunate picture on the license.

While I might frame an outing as a date with me, if it's grocery shopping, I think the lass would probably rather pass.  She's not so keen on the whole sitting in the shopping cart for a while thing.  I know this from times I've asked "want to go shopping with Mama?" and her response is "no."  'scuze me?  Let's try this again...  The lass and I do seem to have a little more time together regularly since the lads often want to do things with their daddy on the weekends such as check on the garden or go places in his "big truck".

I am so grateful for the help I've had caring for my other bambini while I've had this one-on-one time.  I've relished these dates as much as they seem to, so whenever opportunities present themselves in the future for such occasions, I'll do my best to capitalize upon them.