So I noticed that the seven little ones have been starting to fight about who gets to sit on my lap and I've seen them starting to compete for my attention. We try really hard to control the competition in our house and focus on individual strengths- not who's better than who at what. (I detest sibling rivalry). One of my biggest worries with a family this size was how we are going to make sure that everyone gets enough one on one time. I honestly feel like I could sit on the floor all day and do nothing but hug and it still wouldn't be enough. Just so many needs to be met right now that it could almost drain me. So today we came up with a little plan that I think it going to be a huge help. We started it tonight and it was so much fun! Each child drew a number so we knew the order. Bed time around here is at 7:00. (Early I know, but they have to get up at 6:20 a.m and they are tired if not.) Yet we decided that a little extra time wouldn't hurt. So, each night a different child will get to stay up 30 minutes extra to have special mommy daddy time. Tonight it was Jayla's turn. We played a game of her choice for the first 15 minutes and then after that we just sat on the couch and hugged and talked about her day. She shared about her first day of school, without being interrupted, and we asked her about her favorite things to eat and how she was feeling. I even asked her if she could take a vacation anywhere in the world where it would be- and she said "Walmart". LOL Easy to please! Then we prayed with her, hugged her some more, told her how proud we are of her and finally tucked her into bed (with her other sisters already snoozing away). We plan to do this with all of them- just a little extra time during the week to make sure we are truly connecting. In my dream world I would have hours and hours to just stare into every one of my children's eyes and know every single thought they were having, and every single detail of their day. But since that is not possible with the way God designed our family we are just doing the best we can to make sure nobody is left behind, and that everyone knows how loved they are.
Tomorrow night is Aleigha's turn, I am looking forward to it already.
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About Me
- Amy
- Blessed mommy of nine- 4 the regular old way, 2 adopted from Guatemala, 2 adopted through the foster system, and one adopted from Ethiopia. Our family is serving the Lord in Guatemala at Village of Hope- a home for special needs children. I'm passionate about adoption and being a mom. I'm a work in progress, utterly reliant upon God. I'm easy-going, until I freak out. Organized, until I lose something. Laid back, until someone hurts the ones I love. I love taking pictures and writing. I adore big families and people who are willing to live life in an unordinary way. Come along on my journey and watch 'as my blessings grow'. You can contact me at blockamy at hot mail dot com.
14 comments:
love this idea! I'm excited to see how God blesses it!
Amy I love this idea. Even with 7 sometimes I feel that I haven't had good hanging out time with one or two of them.
Praying that the Lord gives you strength for your day tomorrow. :)
Sounds like an awesome idea (& one I've considered for around here), but how do you get everyone else to stay in bed & fall asleep unsupervised? It's rare that we can tuck kids in & not have to go back at least once.
Angela :-)
Awesome, awesome idea Amy! We do a similar plan around here, but with out the drawing to decide order. The drawing would just be icing on the cake, and solve the "who go's first". So fun to hear how it is going...praying for Friday...
Angie
what an awesome idea! i've already been worrying about this and i will only have 4!
i do have a question about how you handle bedtime. my kids are good at going to bed, but it still takes soooo much time. i am curious how you handle the bedtimes at 7. do you start at 7 or at 6:30? do you read books or anything? i am only asking to gather ideas for how we are going to do this. my kids love when we lay in bed with them a little bit each night...there is NO WAY with 4 that will continue to happen .
That's a fantastic idea, Amy! I'm going to have to try that.
Am still reeling from envy that you get your kids to bed at 7:00pm....
Leslie :-)
I love this idea! I think we're going to have to try it too. :)
I love this idea! I think we're going to have to try it too. :)
I love this idea! I think we're going to have to try it. :)
What a great idea! You ARE an inspiration to me! I only have 5 kids (2 adopted) but I still have room for 1 more in heart, but not our house. So one day in the Lords timing I am praying for 1 more.I still have that longing. I thought it would be gone after we adopted #2. But no it is still there. 5 is hard for me, I can not imagine 11, 7 Little ones!
You are BRILLIANT!! We go on dates with our kids, but I think this might be a cool thing to do, especially with me working these days!! Perryn was really wanting snuggle time, and we didn't get to do it til this morning!!! Thank you so much for this idea, I think we will try to start it tonight!! Our bedtime is 8:00, so I may push it back to 7:30 since we are having to get up so early on my working days too!! Sending love and hugs...
P.S. we had DOUBLE pink eye over here last week with Teagan!!
What a great idea. I too share your early bedtime. I think this would benefit a family of any size.
Thanks for sharing.
I love this idea! I am going to have to try it as well. I am also really loving the early bedtime. I could really use the alone time and it would help the kids get earlier and start our schooling at an earlier time. Sounds like you are doing a great job. Not that I doubted you would. :)
What a special way to devote individual time to each of your kids. I love it! I am sure it makes it so much easier with each of them knowing that they will get their "turn". Thanks for sharing!
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