Family Time

“Momma, what can I have my chef make you from the kitchen?” Annora LOUDLY announces.

“Um, what do you have?” I reply.

“Well, it’s all healthy food. We have salad, oranges, strawberries, chicken noodle soup, oatmeal, and key lime pie,” she firmly states.

“Key lime pie is not a healthy food option.”

She replies with, “Well it has limes in it and limes are healthy.”

This kid…..

It is too often I am so excited for the next stage of her life that I rush her out of her current stage. Academic rigor was the only thing on my mind at the beginning of this school year. As I have seen Annora mature into a “bigger” little girl, I am slightly sad that she is weaning her imaginative side a bit. Now I see her teaching her little sister how to play using her imagination only to leave her sister and do something different, more concrete.

As a mommy of 2 beautiful girls, the jealousy can get a bit thick in our house. We argue over toys, Daddy’s attention, Mommy’s attention, etc. Sometimes my head spins and I have to dial back as to where this is all coming from. In our house, it boils down to the need for parent approval and attention. Attention can be hard to give to each individual child sometimes (I can’t imagine more than 2 kids right now). So…I sat down one day and scheduled it in…sad I know but you gotta do what you gotta do!

Oh the smell of doughnuts and apple cider paired with crisp air, sweaters and light jackets makes my heart want to sing praises! Fall is the time of year where I feel the most comfortable. The holiday season is quickly approaching, department stores have snappy jingles playing and people are typically in a good mood. Decorated houses peak out of the falling leaves and scarecrow faces. October 1st is the day I sit down with my Toledo Parent magazine and plan the month out. It doesn’t take long for the weeks to become consumed with hayrides, play dates to Fleitz Pumpkin Farm, corn mazes and Trunk-Or-Treat events.

It was a year ago almost to the day and I was watching my colleagues grow their business in Nashville, TN at a national convention while I stayed home with my babies plucking away at my network marketing business. It seemed unfair that I was home figuring this CEO thing out by myself…not getting very far at all yet my coach friends were soaking in a ton of new knowledge at a national convention. It was at that moment that I realized I could do BOTH! Not only could I stay home with my babes and be the best mommy I knew how to be, BUT I could also grow a substantial business while they slept, napped, etc. to help my husband with some of the burden with monthly bills. So…that day, I signed up for the following year’s Coach Summit and decided it was something I needed to do for me, our girls and our family.

Vacation is supposed to be a time of REST and ReLaXaTiOn right?!? I mean…really right?!? Well, not when you take 2 kids (4.5 and 1.5 years old…one having a fever and screaming the ENTIRE trip) and travel 12.5 hours. To say Ben and I were at each others throats was Read more…

“Mom, come find me?”

The words I hear from my 4.5 year old as I wash the dishes in the kitchen. With a smirk on my face, I place my dish rag down and go on a child hunt. It is pretty easy to spot the little feet sticking out from under the curtains but I play the game and act as though I cannot find her. Delise, my 22 month old, has no trouble pointing out where her sister is hiding and the game is over. Annora comes out and, of course, wants to play again, again, and AGAIN! Trying to switch things up a bit, I excitedly recommend making a “fort!” Not the usual fort, but a “Mommy Table Fort!”

We get out ALL of the big blankets and start sliding the chairs out from under the dining room table. I must admit, our fort is IMPRESSIVE! We have height, space, pillows to sit on, dolls to entertain, etc. The fort is TOP NOTCH to any novice fort builder.

The hustle and bustle of the day begins at 7:00 AM in our household. Father’s Day was no different but Ben was already out the door and in the Ann Arbor, MI area before the girls uttered their first word for the day. I was in the basement working out when I heard:

“Happy Father’s Day to you,

Happy Father’s Day to you,

Happy Father’s Day dear Daddy,

Happy Father’s Day to yyyyoooouuu!!!”

Princess dresses, tiaras, musicals, The Little Mermaid, The Wiggles, Beauty and the Beast, Annie, Build a Bear, Rudy’s Hot Dogs, etc…Daddy can make a little girl’s dreams come true…or close to it!

It isn’t about how extravagant the daddy/Daughter date night is, it is all about the experience and bond that forms because of it.

I can remember the very FIRST daddy/ daughter date night. Annora was 2.5 years old and a HUGE fan of The Wiggles. I dressed her in all red (Simon Wiggle, the red wiggle, was her FAVORITE) and sent her and daddy to Canada to see the show. She had NO IDEA what she was about to do or what to expect. Sure I would have LOVED to go on the date with them, see Annora’s excitement as the crew entered the stage and she saw them live, be there when she met Simon Wiggle outside of his bus, etc.; but the experience she had with her daddy wouldn’t have been the same with me there. Instead, I was able to hear how wonderful the show was through her eyes. She was so excited to share EVERYTHING that happened and the fact that her daddy was there with her is something they have together…their little secret and bond that no one else was a part of. It was a beautiful thing to witness and from that point on, I made it a priority to send them on dates together regularly.