This is the face of a child eating a Happy Meal (she doesn’t get to eat those very often!).
This is the face of a happy child.
This is the face of a child enjoying her mama’s undivided attention. A child with an unexpected, spontaneous 3 hour mommy-daughter date.
This is the face of a child who talked and talked about her plans for the new school year, as well as the highlights of her summer. Her best memory from the summer was “staying home.” This is the face of a child who was listened to.
This is the face of a happy child.
While we were together today, shopping for new school shoes and a birthday present for Daddy, I took the time to really TALK. And of course there’s a Fishful Thinking activity for that! Here are some ideas for you to use the next time you’ve got the undivided attention of a happy child:
Positive Habits activity from Fishful Thinking
Look for opportunities to discuss positive change with your child. Any “downtime” you have with the kids—driving in the car, taking a walk to the park or even waiting in a doctor’s office—can be the perfect time.
Try using the following questions as a springboard for a family conversation about positive change:
- ~What are some things that you can do today that you weren’t able to do one year ago?
- ~How does it feel to do those things?
- ~What are some things you’ll likely be able to do a year from now that you can’t yet do?
- ~What is a positive habit that you’d like to begin (such as getting more exercise, making more time for a hobby, spending more time as a family)?
- ~What are three things that we can do together to help develop this positive habit?
PS–I sincerely apologize to those of you using Internet Explorer! I thought that the issue with my blog and IE was solved, but apparently it’s not. Hopefully we’ll figure it out soon!
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I love that Happy Girl face! and very sage advice that goes along with it too. I hope you get your blog issues fixed soon… ggrr.. I hate it w/email let alone trying to get a blog to work too! I use FF and it is not loading properly, so maybe it is my server & not your blogs. Good Luck!
I love the expression on her face! Too cute! One on one time with Mom or Dad is big fun around here too. :)
Its nice to have time alone with our children.
I have resorted to using Firefox when looking at blogs, so not too big of a deal for me. Our kids always want to go right to the play set at McDonald’s. The food is pretty low on their priority list compared to playland.
It’s so important to try to spend one on one time with them. I know they love it! And yes, she’s definitely happy. But then isn’t anyone who’s eating French Fries?? ;-)
Huh – for a while I thought your blog was just not posting when I clicked on it – today I scrolled and THERE it is! I had no idea there was an IE issue until today. Hope it gets resolved, but its not hard to scroll.
That is one happy girl and some great advice on top of it. :)
She does look so happy!!
Wonderful post! I love the picture.
Have a great Wednesday!
https://harrietandfriends.com/2010/08/the-lion-who-turned-into-a-dog/
Yes, that sure is one happy child. I love it. :)
I am 100% convinced that I will never again have the undivided attention of any of my sons again. Think I lost my hold on them the moment I weaned them. Shoulda kept nursing them through elementary school. What? People do that you know.
I’m an IE user and I am dealing with it. Much prefer dealing with it than not seeing your blog ;)
(stupid IE!)
What a lovely afternoon and a memory she will probably cherish for a long, long time :)
That is such a happy face, and such a great idea! I may have to copy you and take each of my kids shopping for school individually, so we can really talk. With four kids and a husband who works all the time, it’s just so hard to find that one-on-one time with the kiddos. Obviously, from your photo, it sure is worth the effort!
Since my husband works out of state, I don’t have extended family, and I have three daughters, it is so, so hard to give each of them the undivided attention they need. At best, I make sure I spend twenty minutes every day doing something with each of them, whether it’s talking or, if they’re doing a chore, joining them so we can visit. It isn’t much, but I want them to know that, in spite of how challenging things are in our family, they are cared for and loved, and I’ll always listen to them.
But it does make a big difference to have just one child at a time as opposed to having them all together. I learn so much more about what is going on in their lives that way, plus they have my complete attention. We may be a family, but we’re also individuals, and we need to pay attention to that aspect, too.
We use to have a movie night when both my kids were young and at home. Now my oldest has moved out and my youngest is working or at school I still make time to get together with them both for quality time.