My special time is my Thursday-time I spend with my children. My children look forward to it. This takes place every Thursday evening.
This special time was created during the COVID--19 lock down. I used that period of lock down to teach them many things. However, we chose a day -Thursday to be a day that I would do nothing serious except playing indoors and eating with them. Sometimes, they even meet me on the bed and we begin from there, haha.
That time and during the holidays, my friend's kids would join and later, their parents would come and pick them. It was fun.
But now that we are back to work, we couldn't make it to be all day thing but we still chose Thursdays for the special time. We give two hours in the evening to do this.
Every Monday, I announce to the children that we will be having a special time "this coming Thursday". My girls are always, always happy when they hear it.
While attending to their studies during the week, they make their own plans on how to make the Thursday Special. They practice songs they would sing, what they would wear if they want to spice it up.
During the special time, they contest for fashion parade, haha. They sing in turns, they skip in turns, we make jokes and find the first to laugh. That first person to laugh is the next to say her jokes.
On one of the special times, they decided to make me up. You needed to see how I looked. Hahaha
This past Thursday, we sang and danced to a song by Kiss Daniel (Cough), sang some songs from some movies they have watched, especially Barbie films and Man in the Mirror song which was sang in Joyful noise film.
When we were done with singing and dancing, I ended it with a song from another Barbie film, I love the lyrics of the song. It goes like this:
It's magic when you are here beside me,
Close your eyes and let me hold you tight
Everything that I could ever need is
Right here in my arms, tonight.
This is followed by talking time. I began by telling them how my day went or how my week has been. I also told them the challenges I faced and that makes them tell theirs too. The little girl is always giving instances of how someone cheated in the class work and how she reported the case. Haha. While I commend her for her boldness and determination to instill integrity in her mates, I also teach her how not to be the first to report. Instead tell the mate to stop cheating and if she doesn't, she will tell on her.
My older daughter would tell me funny things that happened in class and also the challenges she is facing in her subjects especially Chemistry. But I would encourage her to meet the teacher for more explanations, and then study it daily- early hours of the morning. Her Father is also giving her some home lessons on it anyways. I would tell her that with with a little more efforts she can be the best in what she wants to be.
We do this discussion over some popcorn they make by themselves, even though sometimes, we are eating some part of it black. --They burnt it. Hahaha. And then sometimes, it's very sugary, hahaha. My younger daughter is a close friend of sugary popcorn.
One of the Thursdays we had our special time fell on the day my younger daughter was nine years old. So to mark that day, I asked her if she would like to cook for the family, so it will be on record-- maybe Guinness book of record, haha that she cooked at the age of nine. She gladly accepted and made jollof rice for the family. OMG, I never knew the girl could cook. It was so delicious and so good.
We almost ate up everything but because it is meant to be a memorable meal she created, we had to leave just a little portion for hubby to taste when he comes back home. 😃. He couldn't believe it when we told him the meal was made by his younger daughter. He gave her a big hug and blessed her. But trust little girls, sometimes they want to be appraised with a gift or something creamy, haha. She asked for ice cream and Hubby promised to take her out on Saturday. When Saturday came, we all tagged along and got more than ice creams. Hahaha.
My special time is my kids time. I love it and it has brought much benefits.
- We bond more
*We take a break from everything else and relax - It eases stress from everyone
- It gives them confidence to open up with their fears, challenges and joys
- They feel loved and important to us, and of course they are, more than my work or other things.
- It is fun always and memorable.
Thanks inkwell for the prompt. It's my pleasure to participate.
Thanks for stopping by.
All images are mine snapped with my Infinix note 8 phone.
You are a good mother figure. parents really should be closer to their children
Ah, thanks for the compliments. God is the one giving us the wisdom. Thanks again
Wow....this is so beautiful. I can't imagine my mum singing Barbie songs with me. It's so wonderful how you're teaching them to open up to you, to let them know that you're their number one fan no matter what. So they turn to you when they're in a dilemma, not away.
Wholesome.❤️
Haha, if Mum watches Barbie with you, she might sing one day for you. The kids make me watch some times. They don't only watch, sometimes they drag me to sit and watch too. So I know the songs as they do. It's really awesome if we make time for our children. That way they feel relax and like you said, they warm up easily to the parents and tell anything. Thanks for stopping by
What a blast!!! That's sooo thoughtful and very inspiring. What you do with your kids. You all have a wonderful time away from the noise and distraction of the world. Basking in the love of family.
Yes dear, it's always memorable, especially during the holidays. I enjoy the feel it gives the children after the whole thing. Thanks for stopping by dearie
❤️❤️🌞
Your plan is fabulous. More people should adopt your idea since there’s no substitute for quality familytime . Giving your girls your undivided attention will be something that they carry with them all their lives; you’ve offered the opportunity for them to express themselves openly and learn to give you that option too, which is equally important.
Overall, this post is delightful even if the prompt is meant for fiction rather than nonfiction. No matter. Excellent!
Thank you so much for your kind words. It's my pleasure to participate. I am sorry I got the fiction/non fiction prompt mixed up but thanks for your understanding . They love that special time and I hope they too pass it on to their children. Haha