Because relationships naturally tend toward atrophy, building healthy ones takes intention. It's not just true in marriage and friendship but also in parenting. Since we've moved to Denver, DH has begun some special one-on-one times with our older sons. I'm taking the hint and taking off the teacher hat (and most of the mom hat too) this summer to build on my relationships with my boys.
This summer I'm going to focus hanging out with my boys on Fridays. The other days of the week will have all kinds of things to take them to and do FOR them, but Fridays are for hanging WITH them.
Yesterday, we started off at the Hershey Track and Field Day. Turns out that running races aren't DS #1's favorite thing. So, we went to Krispy Kreme for free doughnut day instead. After that we played cards and read aloud from The Borrowers before we ran them to their evening activities.
This coming Friday is Young Eagle's day at our little airport. DS #2 is finally 8 and is eligible to do a flight. He's been waiting for this for years. It'll be great to share that experience with him. I may take them to a little music in the park thing in the evening too. If we get bored with that we can play in the water feature.
In following weeks I'm going to take them to the local pool, visit the new children's garden at the Botanic Gardens, visit the skatepark, find the ice cream man, go camping, and cash in on their coupons from their summer reading programs. I'm not only looking forward to the activity of Fridays but to the more balanced relationships I hope to gain with my guys.