My 4-year-old finished school for the year on Tuesday. The boys still have another week to go. All of the three big kids have been promised a “mommy day” this summer, when we do their choice of activity together So that made this week a great opportunity to do my daughter’s mommy day.
She wanted to go to Hershey (the amusement park). We got in the car around 9 A.M. on Thursday morning and drove the 90 minutes out there, parked, and took the tram in.
The day went extremely well. The weather was beautiful. It was perfectly sunny, and warm enough to go on the water rides but not warm enough to be sweltering. My phone said I took 15,000 steps, and since her little legs are a lot shorter, I think she must have taken a lot more steps than that. She was such a trooper about it, probably because I was indulging her completely. Want to ride the “Cocoa Coaster” ten times? (at least)? No problem. She did the “Swing thing” kiddie swing ride at least half a dozen times as well. I pushed her around the lazy river twice and we went on the Ferris Wheel. I hate Ferris Wheels. I am deathly afraid of heights, and while I might be OK on my own, I felt a need to grip her the whole time (as I did on the Sky view — a ski lift type ride we took twice). Still the Ferris Wheel was one of her favorites. I even let her play those little carnival type games a few times, so we won cheap stuffed critters. And on the way out she got to make one of those flat souvenir pennies.
The drive home was long — another 90 minutes back when I was exhausted (the baby has not been sleeping well). She chatted with me for a while, but then fell asleep in the back seat. Unfortunately, none of the other children were asleep when I got home. This was not my favorite way to end the day, though my husband did sit with the baby a while when I gave up. But overall, the day was great, and it was so fun to be able to focus completely on one kid. I think if every day were like that it would be a bit intense. But one was wonderful.
That sounds quite fun! (and intense). we’ve never been to hershey park. the 90 minute drive daunts me a little for a day trip. I think one day of total one-on-one indulgence is probably much needed & well deserved. I need to plan out some “mommy days” for my boys, too.
@Ana- Sesame Place is a lot closer, so that’s an option. It’s just smaller, so there’s that trade off. I had the whole day (9 am to 9 pm) so taking 3 hours of it to drive seemed OK.
“But overall, the day was great, and it was so fun to be able to focus completely on one kid. I think if every day were like that it would be a bit intense.” As a parent of a forever-only child, this struck me as funny because I’ve always assumed the opposite — it might be fun to take a few children on an outing somewhere once in a great while, but if every day involved that it would be a bit intense. 🙂
Haha, Jennifer, that’s funny. So much depends on our perspective, doesn’t it? I also have 4 kids (like Laura), and I love the one on one days but definitely need lots of days where they play with one another and I’m not the main form of entertainment. Because that’s what we’ve gotten used to in our lives. But I remember when I was pregnant with my second, having been used to having only one child until then, and I was totally flummoxed as to how I would ever take 2 kids to the park…
@Rinna- it always seems like one less than one currently has seems easy. I remember feeling a wee bit self-satisfied when I took all 4 kids (solo) to the local children’s museum and other families seemed to have 2 parents with 1 or 2 kids. It’s all about perspective…
One-on-one time is so great! It’s amazing how much easier it is to focus and enjoy when you only have one input to process at a time 🙂 It’s also nice when you realize your kids are finally getting old enough to manage day trips without it being a grueling logistical ordeal. What a treat for you both.
You are making great headway on your summer checklist!
@Laura – we are also doing one on one days this summer. My two big boys have birthdays in the summer (June and July), so I’m making it adjacent to that, and my daughter is getting thrown in too for good measure (even though she’s a December bday). The baby doesn’t seem to care, plus he naturally gets a lot of one on one time when the big kids are busy. So glad to hear your Mommy Day #1 went well. I hope mine are as successful. It’s actually really fun to be able to totally indulge one child for the day.
When my children were younger one on one days were spent at a park or something similar. When they became school age, one of our one on one days was back to school shopping. We spent the whole day getting clothes and supplies, eating a special lunch, and wrapping up with a movie. We have another at Christmas when I take each child individually to buy gifts for siblings and family. Summer one on ones usually happen around camp schedules. This week 2 of my children will be gone to camp. My youngest son has me all week to himself.
What a great day! I have been trying to spend one-on-one time with the kids, even for an hour or two. I may take Tornado (my 4 year old girl) to a fun event next weekend – just the two of us. And, we’re planning on taking the kindergartner for a special mommy-daddy day next week. He hasn’t decided what he want to do yet, but it will be nice. After all, it was just the three of us for a couple of years.
@Harmony- it really is so pleasant to get one-on-one time with the older kids (the baby gets a lot of time through sheer neediness). If I can convince someone to go for an errand, that’s usually good.