Just a Lazy Summer Mommy-Daughter Day............

In honor of my commitment to keeping with being a hands on, back to basics Mom, I frequently have what I call "Mother/daughter" day. I tell Tiny, "Want to have a Mommy-Tiny day tomorrow?" She gets really excited because she knows what it means. I actually get excited too, because it means we spend a day together where we leave all of our errands behind and just focus on spending quality time together.

Today, we first started out by going to an open house at a local children's chef's school. Tiny was able to make her own cake, decorate it with icing and use fondant to put elaborate, colorful hearts all over it. She also made some really neat cookies. Then, we spent some time at the library together and of course, the playground. We also went to lunch and afterwards, we saw a woman collecting for the Salvation Army. This was a great opportunity to teach Tiny about good deeds, and I gave her some money and let her donate it to the big red collection pail. She was so proud of herself and we talked a lot about the importance of giving and of performing good deeds. We later took a walk.  Tiny was thrilled to find a caterpillar which she studied intently. Finally, we made a big scarecrow out of some old Halloween costume castaways I had laying around and an old pillow which I tied and staple-gunned to a big wooden post which can be hammered into the dirt.

Caterpillar Friend

Scarecrow (also a nurse)

These "Mommy-daughter" days are tiring and, in all honesty, sometimes I have moments where I want to have a few moments of "me" time. However, at the end of the day, its totally worth it all.  Tiny is currently laying next to me, feet on my tummy, watching me type this. She is smiling at me and is starting to nod off to sleep. She has been hugging me all day long, grabbing my hand, asking me all sorts of questions about the world and about life, telling me she loves me and talking all about her thoughts, her likes and her dislikes. She has been singing songs and telling me little jokes she has learned from her friends. It is times like this that I am grateful that I have taken the time to stop and enjoy the little things and taken the time to be a more "hands on" Mom. Once again, thank you, June Cleaver, for your inspiration.