I recently read (and by “read,” I mean skimmed because I have a hard time reading an entire article) an article on ksl.com about fathers stepping up to play a major role in children’s lives and it got me thinking about my current situation.
My husband’s ideal day (which he does actually carry through almost daily) goes something like this:
- 4-7 am: work on his personal business stuff
- 7-7:40 am: get ready for the day, eat breakfast with me, help get our daughter up
- 7:40-8 am: drive to work
- 8 am-5 pm: work
- 5-5:25 pm: drive home from work
- 5:25-6:15 pm: playing with our daughter, dinner, talking, clean up dinner
- 6:15-8 pm: family time, errands
- 8-9 pm: get our daughter into bed, clean up from the day
- 9 pm-4 am: sleep
And I can’t believe he can follow that kind of schedule. Not only does he wake up early to work on his own things and then go to work, but as soon as he gets home, he immediately says hi to me and sweeps up our daughter to go play with her until dinner is ready. The night is focused on family and he rarely gets distracted from that. When he plays with our little girl, he’s fun – he throws her around, gives her rides, and all sorts of things I don’t think about even though I spend all day with her!
So this article has me thinking, how often do I make excuses to spend time away from her when my husband wishes he had more time to spend time with her? How can I become a better, more interesting mother? A friend’s friend’s 2-year old daughter passed away very unexpectedly recently which has also encouraged me to really enjoy spending time with my daughter. If anything were to happen, I don’t want to have regrets about how much quality time we spent together.
Today was pretty successful. I sat with her throughout entire meal times as we ate together and sang songs. We played in her room for long amounts of time. We read stories together. And of course we took our morning walk together. Besides, it’s been really important to spend lots of time with her since it’s her first birthday today!
Are there other ways you have found that can help in “stepping it up” as a mother? Let us know!
