Worth Every Minute

What makes everything worthwhile to me:

When I come home from work at the end of the day and my son gets his first glimpse of me. For a minute, that big old smile melts away all of the world’s problems for both of us.

Working Late Means Less Time With Family

Does this sound familiar? When my son wakes up in the morning and has his first bottle, I am busy getting myself out the door for another day at work. By the time I get home in the evening he has already finished his last bottle and my role is putting him to bed for the night. In between, the only time I see him during the day is when I look up at the picture of him I have on my desk at the office.

Prepare Early
If you take the time to prepare any necessary items and place them by the door in the evening, you will have more time in the morning to spend with your child. Make your lunch in the evening, bag it and put it in the fridge so you don’t have to wake up and prepare food. Even breakfast cereal can be pre-measured so all you need to do is add milk to eat.

Do What You Enjoy
More than ever, now is the perfect time in your life to find out what you enjoy doing and get out there to do it. It’s discouraging enough to spend nine hours a day away from your family; if you’re stuck doing something you don’t enjoy, you are forever losing a big part of your life that you will never get back. Take care of yourself and your needs, and you will be better focused to take care of your family’s needs.

Leave Work at Work
If you are the type of person who is used to bringing home work, now might be a good time to take a step back and leave unfinished projects at the office. Since family time is reduced by work during the week, your “homework” is to squeeze every last moment of togetherness out of the evening.

Resolutions and Plans

Now that the holidays have passed the cleanup can begin. In our household we are busy digging up boxes from the basement to store away Christmas decorations for another year and fortifying anything packed away in boxes so that mice aren’t able to surprise us with their nests next December.

Overall I would have to say we had a very successful season. Our son started eating rice pudding on December 24 which made for a hilarious home movie. We were able to see my parents and the in-laws all in the same day which is a rare treat for us. These are frugal times but we managed to keep the tree surrounded by presents for all of the children – I don’t think any of them went home disappointed.

Even though most people are back to work, today (January 2) is the last real gasp of “holidays”. Soon we will get back to our regularly-scheduled shuffling about and trying to pick out a living for ourselves. Now is a perfect time to reflect on the year that just passed and the excitement the next twelve months will bring.

We aren’t “resolution” people. January 1^st doesn’t involve a list of sins we wish to cut from our lives. But I do have goals as a parent; basically, these are the journeys I wish to continue moving forward.

My Dad list:

• Take care of my health so I can take care of my family
• Learn a new skill that I can one day pass on to my son
• Take care of our finances so I can both provide for and spend more time with my family
• Take photos for cherishing, but avoid the living behind a camera lens trap
• Above all, put my family before all else

Get Your Children Excited for Santa

Christmas is just around the corner!  The job may already be done for you, but there are a lot of things parents can do to help get their children in the Christmas spirit and excited for Santa’s visit.

Put Up the Christmas Tree
Many families put up their Christmas trees very early in December.  This is a great opportunity to bond with children and involve them in the holiday process.  Foster creativity by letting them put ornaments in unconventional places; an unused vase filled with shiny Christmas balls makes an eye-catching centrepiece for the table.

Start an Advent Calendar
Those chocolate advent calender, like so many other other aspects of the season, takes a christian tradition (in this case the days of advent) and mass-commercializes it down to a waxy chocolate treat.  Arguments aside, opening a new chocolate decoration every day in the lead-up to Christmas helps to build anticipation and teach young children about the passage of time.

Presents are Surprises
In my family, whenever we give gifts to other people we keep them a surprise until the time they are opened. This was always one of the most fun aspects of the holidays, to me.  When you’ve picked a present that you know the other person is really going to love, it’s almost as unbearable to not give it to them early as it is for them wondering what you might have thought of.

Some families don’t do the surprise presents – sometimes a gift giver is with the recipient when they make or buy their present!  That is a great way to bond, too.  There is no wrong way to celebrate the holidays, and no wrong way to bond with our loved ones.  The priceless look on a child’s (or adult’s!) face when they open a gift they love but weren’t expecting can really make the surprise worthwhile.

Sing Songs
Even if you aren’t the greatest vocalist in the world, encourage song in your household.  Children connect to music on many levels, and familiar Christmas songs build excitement for the big day as well as general good feelings. This works all year round, too!

Enjoy Each Other’s Company
This time of year is great for spending time with loved ones.  There are more statutory holidays and often workplace-provided days off.  Rather than using the free time to catch up on housework or shop for more presents, use it to spend time with the kids.  It’s so easy to get lost in the moment that we don’t always take the time we should with the people who give us the drive to keep doing all that we do.  Drop everything and play with the baby.  There is nothing so important that it can’t wait.