The Gift of Time

I was the oldest child growing up; I have one brother who is six years younger than me. And for most of my childhood, I was raised by a single mom. My parents divorced when I was in the 5th grade. So having one-on-one time with my mom was rare.

That is probably one reason why I believe it is important to spend some alone time with each of my three children. So this past week I scheduled a "date night" with each of them. My oldest daughter wanted to go shopping, like every 13 year-old girl wants to do. We ate at Texas Roadhouse, went to Walmart and then JoAnn Fabrics. It was a nice evening out. Next in line was my youngest, age 6, who just wanted to watch the movie Wall*e with me. We enjoyed it together, although she teared up from time to time. And last night was my final date with the middle child (10) who never gets to do anything (I'm told this is the standard philosophy of middle children). We went to The Melting Pot for dinner, did a little Christmas shopping and then ended up at JoAnn Fabrics. On the way home, she gave me a big smile and thanked me for a great evening.

As I was checking out some recent blog postings from some of my favorite sites today, many of them talked about giving the gift of time this year. Is there someone in your circle of family or friends who you don't get to spend much time with? If so, you should really think about giving them something you can do together. How about tickets to a show at The Midland Theatre? Or a cooking class at Woodhaven Farms. Don't forget about the Lou and Gib Reese Ice Arena - go ice skating together. And there is always something to do at The Works. Need some more ideas? Go here.