Spending Time With Your Children is Priceless

When I look at an album of baby pictures of Scarlett, it feels like yesterday, but so long ago at the same time.  Like the saying says, the days are long but the years are short.  Scarlett is now 3 years old and growing and changing at a rapid pace.

It doesn't feel like that long ago that I was playing peek-a-boo with her and making her laugh hysterically.  Sometimes it boggles my mind how my tiny 8 lb baby girl grew so fast into an active and opinionated 3 year old! 

I'm fortunate enough that I've been a stay-at-home-mom since day one.  It's been my greatest pleasure to see all of Scarlett's firsts and some of her firsts in present day I'd like to forget! That's for another day though.  Since Scarlett only goes to school three days a week, it's up to me to fill the other two days a week with activities to keep her busy and entertained.  Since I have so many hours with her, I like to get out of the house occasionally to break up the day.  We visit friends, go out to lunch, go shopping or just visit a kid's museum.  Scarlett is always up for a grocery store visit too and requests that we go there daily!

If we do go out, I always enjoy spending as much time as possible with my cutie.  We talk in the car and I get to hear all of her silly antics and questions, and of course we love singing along to the radio too.  It's so important to just talk! Of course sometimes it's fun to pay for an outing like the movies, but being together doesn't always have to be expensive or cost anything!  

In the warmer months of the year, take your child to the playground or the park which costs nothing.  Scarlett loves the swings at the park and she is all smiles when I push her. When we're home, you can find me coloring in a coloring book with Scarlett or doing a puzzle with her.  She loves to build castles or towers with her magnatiles and her finished product is always wildly creative.  Play-doh is also on our daily to-do list and Scarlett uses her imagination to make pretend cookies and pizza.  When I'm feeling like I'm all out of ideas for fun, we turn on some music and just have a dance party.

I think children remember the time spent with their parents one-on-one the most beyond anything else.  It would make me so happy for my daughter to grow up and remember all of the precious time we spent together.  Time passes so fast and children are only young once. Make sure to be together as much as possible!