The other day, I had a small emotional moment with my 5 year old little girl, my mini me. The conversation went:
"K bee, one day you'll grow up.. you won't be wearing polka dot jackets and dora shoes anymore. And you'll move out of our house..and i'm sad because of that."
"mom, it's all right.. it won't be til like i'm 70."
I cherish my conversations with my mini because she's growing up too fast. Sometimes I miss her little wobbly 2 year old self. Now she's in Kindergarten, it's definitely bitter sweet. Here is a list I've come up with that helps me make memories with my children that one day (hopefully) they will cherish and carry on to their little minis.
1. I gave a journal that K Bee and her "fairies" write to each other. In the journal she writes about her feelings or draws them and in turn, the "fairies" write back. This way she's able to express her feelings without the fear of me getting upset at her. Sometimes she lets me read her entries. Maybe next year, we'll move on to a "Mommy and K Bee" journal. Right now, she believes in these fairies and that I don't want to take it away from her. And at night time, she yells out "Good night fairies" from her cozy bed and in turn the fairies yell out, "Good night!". One day, she'll realize who these "fairies" are, but for now..we'll keep that a secret ;-).
2. Every Friday is "Kid's Choice". This gives them the power to pick dinner. Anything they want, except candy. They normally choose: Chicken nuggets, Pizza, ham and cheese sandwich, or Sushi. They love homemade sushi, especially the seaweed. Whatever they choose, we eat it. Followed by a movie.
3. Some Saturdays or Sundays, we have "Pajama Day". They get to stay in their PJs all day and night. This is our lazy day. We just watch movies or play games in our PJs. We have played UNO over and over and over. [Probably one of my favorites :)]
4. Indoor Picnics. Once in awhile, we lay a blanket in the middle of the living room and have a picnic. This only works if Baby Bee is confined to his play yard or napping. He's like the ants to our picnic, but in a "godzilla" like form.
5. Every night at dinner, we do 3 good things and 3 bad things. They each take turns telling everyone 3 good things that happened at school and 3 bad things that happened. This way we get to find out about their day and they get to find out ours.
6. Mommy Dates and Daddy Dates. Daddy Bee and I take turns taking each child out on a date. Sometimes, it's just me and K Bee going to Target or the mall. We go into the stores and she tries on shoes or puts on colorful make up at Sephora. At times, I take J Bee to breakfast and we talk about what's going on or take him with me to go grocery shopping. He loves to help out with chores too!
7. Every night, either I or Daddy Bee tuck each of them in and say a prayer with each of them. Their prayer consists of asking for forgiveness for the sins they committed that day and praying for a better day.
8. Baking cookies or making dinner together. They love to help with cookies and dinner, even if it means opening up the pasta box and mixing the sauce. They are so proud when it's done and it's "sooo good" and I tell them it's because they made it. Their smiles are priceless!
9. We have a rule for gift giving. If they don't have a job, they make their presents. We try to teach them the value of money. That buying things aren't always the best things and sometimes, (if not all the time for parents), homemade presents are always the best presents. We tell them when they get a job, then they can use their money to buy presents, otherwise, they are using someone else's money to buy presents. (I have countless bracelets and countless pictures.)
10. Last but not least, our main rule: Hug and Greet each other everyday, even when we're having a bad day. We make it a rule to hug and say hello. I believe manners start from the home.
This is just a small list of things that we do with our children and I can only hope that they will remember them when they're older and carry on to their little ones.
