Challenge Accepted!

This year Mark and I have sat down and found specific goals we want to accomplish as a family. One of those goals was spending more time with our children on an individual level. With Baby Traydon's arrival creeping up on us every day, I know that my girls will end up having even less time with Mom and Dad than they already do. This, as I decided last night, will become my next priority for a little bit in hopes of setting up a routine and making it work for our family. This morning, I woke up and decided I needed some new ideas for things I could do with each girl on our own. I had a few ideas from different blogs I had read previously, but I was really hoping for some new, abstract ideas that would just jump out at me and scream, "Loni would love that!" or, "Madi would have so much fun with that!". My research ideas failed me... I went to my trusting idea generating site (Pinterest, naturally), in hopes that I would find some great ideas! And while I did find a couple that I hadn't thought in depth of before, nothing really jumped out at me, and nothing was a completely foreign idea to me. Thus began my thought process of taking on this challenge myself. This post may end up being the beginning of a long series, which is my hope actually! I am hoping that through my own experiences and research from our little area, I will be able to find those abstract ideas I was looking for and share them with the world! If no one else is my Pinterest world wants to take on the challenge, I WILL!

My plan for executing this idea would ideally be as follows:

• Each child gets one date a month with each parent
• For now, the dates would be on the same night equaling two date nights a month allowing for us to continue to maximize our time as a family. (Mark would take one child, I would take the other and on a different night we would trade and take the other child)
• No two date nights are the same for a minimum of 6 months!
• Child gets to choose date night in its entirety once every 6 months at least.
• Zero interruption policy! (Excluding Emergencies obviously!) No technological distractions, no shopping or unrelated errands to run, etc.
• Take lots of pictures and make lots of memories!

I know I will only have my little girls for a short time and I haven't done the job I need to in maximizing my time with them. That changes now. I can't wait to start making this happen and spending some much needed time with my girls at their level and on their terms. Stay tuned for more ideas!!