One way I am savouring time with my daughter this Advent
As a parent, you have these moments of awareness of how quickly your child is growing up. Such a bittersweet mix of emotions! I am struck again by the urgent need to savour moments with this gorgeous girl. Those moments are our reminders that life is short and our priorities need to shift from the busyness and distraction we immerse ourselves into the treasure that is the fleeting time we have while our children are small. This has been top of my mind in thinking about Advent.
This year feels so different and feels like it is the start of a transition into a different phase of parenting. Her interests are shifting. Her attention span and understanding is growing. Her time is taken up by different things. Her creativity and desire to learn is expanding.
How do I make the most of this time when she still wants to spend time with me and get lost in creating while not overloading our already full days?
I don’t know what next year will look like. I don’t know what she will and won’t want to do. As much as my brain wants to work it all out now, I know I need to let that go and focus purely on the here and now. I want to ensure that I have time set aside and activities planned so that I don’t allow the busyness and distraction to take over.
One of my favourite traditions each year has been going through Truth In The Tinsel with my daughter. Some years we have only done a few of the craft activities. Some years we have done all of them. Some years we have used the printable colouring ornaments. No matter what we have chosen, the reading and discussion points have carved out time to simply be together, refocus on what Christmas is celebrating and allow faith-building discussions. I am looking forward to keeping it simple this year, using the colouring ornaments with the added fun of putting them on Shrinky Dinks paper to create our little ornaments. Part of me wonders if she will want to do Truth In The Tinsel next year as an eight-year-old. For now, I will just enjoy it.
Awareness is half of the battle in being present with our kids. Having traditions and activities that we can all look forward to builds in those points of connection at a busy time. Putting down our phones and restricting our work to work times allows us to savour what is right in front of us without distraction. Maybe it’s only me that needs these reminders?
I would love to hear about how you are savouring time with your children in the midst of the lead up to Christmas and what Advent activities you plan on doing.
If you would like the help of a free planner to help you to be intentional with what you include in this season, you can get yours here:
Disclosure: Jodi Koepke is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. This post contains additional affiliate links linking to Truth in the Tinsel. Thank you for your support of my writing at no extra cost to you.
