So, Annabelle and I have started “dating.” Each week, for one hour, she and I spend time together doing mom and daughter stuff, one-on-one. We usually leave the house; we’ll go to the library, book stores, coffee houses, the grocery store, the thrift shop, Target, wherever . . . our date often includes one chocolate milk (for her) and one peppermint tea (for me) and lots of giggling (both of us). It’s sort of like our days pre-Levi, except that it’s not . . . we know that we get to go home to her brother and dad and have a good time talking about what she and I did together.
As we drove home from one of our recent outings, I asked her a few questions about our dates. First, I asked her, “Annabelle, did you have fun on our date?”
From the backseat, she yelled, “Yeah!”
I asked, “What did you like about our date?” We’d run errands to the pharmacy and grocery store. I bought her bubble gum tape. She said, “Um, I liked C.V.S. I like my new gum.”
Then I asked, “Do you like going on dates with Mommy?”
“Yeah!”
“Do you know what a date is?”
A pause. ”Yes.”
“Well . . . ”
“It’s when Mommy and Annabelle go on a date,” she announced with a huge grin.
“Okay, yeah, it’s sort of like that. But, what else? Is it special?”
“Yeah! Only Mommy and Annabelle go. No Levi. No Daddy. Just Mommy and me.”
It sounded to me like she understood that “dates” are special times when two people spend time together. So I asked her, “Do you want to go on a date with anyone else?”
“Uh . . . yeah! I want to go with Nanna. First, she can take me to the bookstore and the train table. And then we can go to the park and then I can get a pop-is-pop [Annabelle's word for popsicle]. Mommy, do you think we could do that?”
“I think so,” I said. My mom is supposed to be in town in another few weeks; I’m thinking her Nanna would a date with her granddaughter. I know I’m enjoying these special girls-only outings.
They tend to look something like this:
{ 6 comments }
the second one down is surely my favorite.
dates with just the eldest sounds like some serious awesome. i need to work that in to our life.
Jessica Reply:
March 1st, 2010 at 5:42 pm
we’re enjoying it. actually, it was my therapist’s idea. She’s not exactly familiar with a.p. and said something along the lines of, “Do you ever spend time with your daughter when you are not holding or wearing your baby?” Since I really couldn’t give her an affirmative answer, I decided to make a “date” where I was with her and Levi was being cared for by my hubby or a sitter. So far, she and I are loving it.
That sounds like a great way to set aside some time for just you and Annabelle. In fact, I think I might steal the idea for my daughter and me. I know she would enjoy it, for sure.
How sweet! I love that a date is going to the grocery store and pharmacy :)
I can imagine a whole bunch of fun dates when the weather warms up!
Jessica Reply:
March 1st, 2010 at 5:42 pm
Thank you for reminding me! March is here! Your baby will soon be here! I can’t wait for fun this spring!
I always have loved one-on-one time with each of my children. Sometimes it wasn’t going out… instead it was that everyone but the two of us was out and about. My youngest calls it a “you and me at home day” and thinks it is the best thing ever. I love the photos and your story. These little shared moments are what life is all about, I believe.
That’s so cute!!!
That’s a really nice idea
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