How much one on one time do you spend with your child - actively interacting?

This made me giggle. I'm a floor sitter too! Its amazing what is fun to a kid too. Like I put my two year old into a clothes basket and gently turn it and sing All Around the Mulberry Bush and at the last line I pull him out and hold him high then hug him and put him back!

You sound like a great mom! I plan on getting us a kitchen I think my snoogs would love it. He loved his nieces.

And its true it keeps us young. I love having a little one, it means I can watch and put on puppet shows, get messy with non toxic finger paint, watch movies and not be the only adult in the theatre (unless I drag my husband) and just get to act silly!

Laundry baskets are a great toy. Mine fills it with stuff and pushes it like a car.... which is great therapy for his gross motor skills. I think you are having a great time being a mom.

I also like talking to the babies because we can get away with talking to ourselves and everyone thinks we are talking to baby.

He plays empty and fill with laundry baskets. Funny story about talking to myself. I'm really silly with the baby. I make up silly rhymes and songs and just chatter a lot. One day around Halloween I decided to indulge and get some cupcakes. I walked over and said, "Now which ones does mommy want?" A few customers looked at me funny and I realized it was because I was by myself - I told my husband to watch our little one in the cart while I ran over!

Love that story!!!!!

Isn't mommy-hood the best? No matter what it brings... there are joys.

THere are. And the funny thing is, A always wish for time all by myself and the few times of year I get it - when visiting relatives - I miss him terribly!

I know!!!! A couple of hours with no kids and the house gets to silent. What's really bad.... you even miss them when they are older... though you also get grateful for the absence of teen drama.

Its so hard to imagine my little toddler as a teen!

Don't blink.... it'll happen before you know it.

My husband works that shift too! He doesn't get up in the morning though because he kind of stays up to play wow.

So cool that he's a Martial Arts teacher. I plan to enroll my two year old at three which I think is the minimum age. I certainly agree about the reading. Although my son is getting to the age where he wants to "talk" about the book or go off on his own (right now with his Dora book) and "read" on his own. Or he'll look at books of animals and act out the animals. Its very funny.

I wish I knew Mandarin and I'm hoping my mother in law can teach him. She keeps up with as she is always talking to relatives in over there.

Robert already loves to "help" me clean and I don't discourage it I think a balanced man can do everything and anything he wants to. I want to get him a play kitchen of his own and mini cleaning tools.

I love how your raising your kids and would love to borrow your husband for some battles. ha.

Ahh WOW. I loose my husband to online posting, and martial arts movies. Though, I secretly love them!

I definately can't complain about our life. We just live each day and try to stay in the moment.

Hopefully grandma can teach him Manderin. He'll be a step ahead by being bi-lingual.

Yes, I get that alot people wanting to borrow my husband when they find out he has lightsaber fights with my son. Outside we get stopped a bit when working out, especially last weekend when he decided to take his Odachi outside for a spin.

Namaste-Anora

That's too funny!

Its good to be grateful for what we have and let go of any expectations I guess.

Be in the moment!

I love how much time you spend with your little ones. Wow your older one's school day is long! Many mother's won't get on the floor with their kids but have them do their own thing most of the time. I think its great that your husband will spend time with them whenever he can.

My husband works an odd shift - swing - about three to eleven. Does your husband's schedule vary from day to day or week to week?

I went to school for special education so having a hands on approach is what i find works best for kids to learn. I love playing with them, and seeing when they figure something out for themselves, the facial expressions are priceless.

My husband works a very odd shift. He's on montly swing shifts. On month he works 6 am to 9 pm, the next he works 6 pm to 9 am. And his schedule is something like this... He will work Monday and Tuesday off Wednesday and Thrusday, but works Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The next week, he works only Wednesday and Thrusday. Then the cycle repeats it's self. It's hard to get used to it but it's alot better than what his schedule was at his old job.. he was working 16 hours a night 7 days straight, that was rough. I never seen him, so this is a change.

When my husband goes on TDY (he hasn't had to in a while) its seven days a week 12 hours a day. But its mostly waiting for Customs planes to come in. So he can watch tv or play his little game console or read. And sometimes I went with him which was fun for me I loved it. Staying in a hotel room, eating out a bit more. Even hanging out at at the hanger with him. I don't see him much unless baby and I stay up late with his swing shift.

I do think kids like hands on. As my little one gets older though, he's very happy playing on his own, even when I want to join in! Only I have to be close by for him to be able to keep crawling in my lap or give me a hug. So I sit on the floor alot too.

Wow, I can feel for you there and understand when my husband was working 7 nights a week at 16 hours, i hated it. I felt so lost and lonely, and then he'd come home and try to be with us but end up falling fast asleep. He felt so bad but when your working for 16 hours you gotta sleep. I am glad hes on his shift now.

My little girl is clingy to me so I have to be on the floor or my back is killing me because she wants to be held all the time.

My little one goes through periods where he alternates between needing to be held all the time an wanting to be very independent. My husband hasn't had TDY's in a long time, I miss them, because I always had the choice to go with thim.

That would be neat to be able to go with him, and spend that time away from home.

My little girl is just clingy... I am all she's ever known though. After she was born, is when my husband was working those very long hours and he wasn't around, and I don't have any help with my kids for outside sources. It's just me, so when it comes time to start school, oh my i'll be in that classroom, holding her hand because she'll freak, lol...

Your situation sounds like mine. Well kind of. My husband isn't really hands on. He is a screen guy - tv and computer and his hours are different. Its funny, my brother got on the floor with my little guy right away and played and acted silly and he did something no one is able to do but me - (at that time, now my husband can do sometimes) he picked Robert up and took him out of sight of me - to the bathroom to look in the mirror - the very first time they met and my baby didn't cry!

My brother is a very interactive dad! Both my sister in law and my mom were jealous at how my little one took to him right away. But it didn't take long for him to trust my SIL and cousins. But like you, unfortunately, they live far away. I'm an older mom so its hard to make friends with other moms, most are young or by late thirties have older teens.

Since he's started this new job and got different hours she's sorta come around towards him, but it's rough for the most part. She only really wants to be around me, and runs from most and hides and will scream if anyone comes at her, like Nana, which i laugh at, I shouldn't but do, lol....

I wish my husband could have more time at home but being a stay at home in these times as they are, he's gotta pull an extra day here and there which takes away from his kids unfortunatly.