Undivided Attention

Okay, so here's the deal.  I'm going to let you in on a little secret.  Being a full-time working mom, of 3 boys (3 CRAZY boys, under the age of 8) is really flippin' hard.  It is hard for a lot of reasons, however the hardest part for me is getting in that one-on-one time that each of them so desperately need AND deserve. 

I recently read an article on spending one-on-one time with your kids.   To sum it up, it said that if you take 5 minutes out of each day and dedicate those 5 minutes, without interruption, with your child, it will make all of the difference in the world.  5 minutes, we all have an extra 5 minutes, if not more...as parents we can do this AND we should want to.  

Yesterday, I picked up the boys from school.  O was on the playground, playing with his friends.  Of course, he didn't acknowledge the fact that I was there.  If he had, our eyes would have met and he would ultimately know that his time on the playground was limited because we would need to get home to begin the witching hour.  Did I mention how much I despise the witching hour?  This is the time between when I pick the boys up and when I get dinner on the table.  I like to keep this under an hour, to keep us all sane, but that doesn't always happen.  

Sorry, okay where was I?  So, I decided to grab H from his classroom.  Of course, like everyday, he was SO excited to see me.  It's one of the best feelings in the world, I'm not going to lie.  H and I went outside, sat on the curb and H pulled out the book he bought from the book fair that day.  We sat and read together, for about 5.. maybe 10 minutes.  During that time, it was him and I, no one else.  His brothers weren't around, the sun was shining, and despite all of the commotion on the playground, that valuable time remained about us.  

We sat close, his head leaning against my shoulder, it was priceless.  I told him how much I loved the books he picked out and how I glad I was that I was the first person that was able to read them with him.  He looked at me, with those gorgeous eyes, and said, "I love you mommy".  I love you too, little man, with all of my heart and soul, forever and forever and forever.  YOU are my favorite Hudson and my best friend.  It was at that moment that I realized parenting really isn't that hard.  As children and even as adults, we all want undivided attention and to know that they are loved.  Seems easy enough to me!