One of the only disadvantages to having a lot of children is that it’s very difficult to spend quality time with each one. There’s never enough Mommy to go around. Our play is usually group centered instead of individually tailored. Most of my time seems to be spent meeting everyone’s physical needs- clean diapers, clean clothes, full bellies, etc.- which means that less of my time can be spent fulfilling everyone’s emotional needs. As a result, I often sit down after a long, busy day and reflect on how disappointed I am that I wasn’t able to connect with one or more of my kids on a more personal level, even though we were together from sun-up until sun-down.
A mom with this type of problem has to make the most of her opportunities. And that’s just what I did today. While Johnny was in the midst of a three-hour power snooze, Josie and Jamie were boycotting their afternoon naps and I was concocting a secret plan. I knew that, having not had their naps, Josie and Jamie would be due for an early bed time around 6:30 pm, but having taken such a long nap, Johnny wouldn’t be ready for bed until well after 7:00 pm. This would afford me the perfect opportunity for some one-on-one bonding time with my baby. But it gets better…. The thing I had planned to do in the afternoon when all the kids were sleeping was clean the swimming pool, but since there was no coordinated nap, there was also no cleaning. With the early bedtime there would be plenty of daylight left for me to jump in the pool before sunset. I would clean the swimming pool while spending quality time with Johnny. Perfect! This is the way a master multi-tasking mom’s mind works.
I tucked Jamie into bed and gave Josie a kiss good-night then tip-toed out of the room and down the hall. I dressed myself and Johnny in swimsuits and we headed for the pool. This was Johnny’s first real swimming experience. Last summer he was a tiny newborn sleeping soundly in his infant seat, completely oblivious to the rest of the family’s splashing.
Oh, how much has changed since then!
I was nervous about how he’d react to the cool water but it was actually the perfect day for a first swim- hot and humid. The refreshing water made Johnny smile. He had no hesitation, no doubts. He loved it! We swam around together for awhile, bobbing up and down and twirling around making waves. Then I lifted him into an innertube and he drifted lazily around the pool, his chubby little arms dangling over the sides, his face plastered with happy contentment.
Johnny lounged in the lapping water while I successfully vacuumed the pool, stopping every now and then to tickle his toes or spin his tube in circles.
When the sun had finally begun to disappear behind the trees I decided it was time to bring our evening swim to an end. Once inside we hopped in the shower together to wash off the chlorine and bugs. Again, I was proud of myself for combining my daily chore of showering with my wanted bonding experience with little Johnny. Skin-on-skin contact is one of the most (if not the most) comforting connection that a mother can have with her child and the assurance of multi-task accomplishment is one of the most (if not the most) rewarding satisfactions that a mother can give herself. What did you do tonight? I cleaned my swimming pool and made a memory with my baby.
<3 so sweet.
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