“Hey, Mom! Double-Bounce Me!”

Alright, I caved. Getting into the trampoline, I started to chase my kids around in circles making them scream and run. “Double-bounce me and make me fall down,” my seven year old said. “Pleeeease!” she begged. Cool mom that I wanna be, I double bounced her and made her fall. Only she landed funny and sprained her ankle. Oops.

  • And the Mom of the Year Award goes to…. ME! (You have to say that like Elle Woods in Legally Blonde).
  • And the Award for Best Blood-Curdling Scream from a Trampoline Accident goes to….Molly!

Of course this happens a whole two hours before my husband leaves for a business trip.  Nice. Well, it was totally my fault.

There’s so much going on right now. Deadlines and Christmas and a house that seems to explode with a mess every time I manage to pick up a room. I was kind of disappointed that my daughter couldn’t go to school, because I needed the time to get things done.

But then something happened. My friends in Atlanta were talking on Facebook about a missing seven-year-old girl that had been found in a dumpster near her family’s home. I found the story online. It has since made the national news.  Oh, you guys it is just heart-breaking.

I thought about it a lot. Especially the mother and what she wouldn’t give for some unexpected time with her seven-year-old daughter.

I totally checked myself, and instead of plopping my girl in front of the TV so I could catch up on the work I had planned to do, I treated it like the gift it was.

We took Charlie to preschool and had a mother-daughter day. I took her out to breakfast. Where? Where else would you take a kid with a bum leg — iHop! Then we went to one of those places where you paint pottery and followed it up with a not-so-healthy lunch of popcorn and candy at the movies. We saw The Muppet Movie a second time, it’s SO good.

It was pouring outside, but we went anyway. I used an old umbrella stroller to move her around.  Add in a couple of coats, a purse, a golf umbrella, popcorn and drinks and we were a hot mess coming through. Especially since one of the wheels of the stroller was slightly mangled – no doubt I ran over it with the car at some point.

We had so much fun, and I was glad I pushed everything (that doesn’t really matter anyway) aside to have fun with my girl.

A lot of things I spend my time on aren’t very important.  I’m grateful my focus was redirected, but super sad and still thinking about the little girl and her family in Atlanta. My friend, Melissa Cox from Frugalissa Finds said something to me in an email last night about being intentional with your kids. She had no idea what I had been thinking about so the timing of her comment was excellent because I didn’t have a good way to describe it until she put it that way. My sister Amy is really good about doing “dates” with her kids. So is my friend, Megan. I think I need to stay focused on that and make sure it happens intentionally, and not when it’s prompted by a double-bounce gone awry.

Are you good about spending one-on-one time with your kids? What kinds of things do you guys like to do together, I would love some ideas.

7 Responses to “Hey, Mom! Double-Bounce Me!”

  1. Rachel December 7, 2011 at 4:38 pm #

    We have two children. I find I notice more when I spend one – on – one time with them. We focus on each other and have great conversations.

    It’s not easy to do, put I think you’re right. Maybe I should plan “date days” with my girls.

    Rachel

    • Heather December 7, 2011 at 5:58 pm #

      Good point. And they remember those conversations. They remember our undivided attention. I definitely need to make this a priority.

  2. Megan December 7, 2011 at 9:03 pm #

    Just getting in the car and driving around so they can talk and have ALL your attention means the world to my chatter boxes LOL.
    We also like to go to “Old McDonalds” for breakfast on Saturday mornings.
    Hubby takes Benton out in the woods to just walk around and “look for dino tracks”

    • Heather December 8, 2011 at 9:44 pm #

      You guys are good parents, Megan.

  3. Heather Hopp-Bruce December 8, 2011 at 9:35 pm #

    You know you’re a great mom when your daughter has such awesome toenail polish on. And that you even own a trampoline.

    • Heather December 8, 2011 at 9:46 pm #

      Yeah, it looks so good with the leg I almost broke. Got to give her props for the bi-colored big toe idea. Half blue half purple with a flower sticker on top was her idea (and it totally looked cool).

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