Tuesday, August 19, 2008

SPT: Faster, Higher, Stronger Part 3


One last look at her sister...

Building strong happy children has easily become one of my number one goals. The girls have never been separated from each other and rarely get any breaks from each other. We thought it was high time they got an overnight mommy/daddy daughter date!

The goodbye hug...

Our goal was to allow the girls control over what they got to do with us on an individual basis and to allow the girls a bit of separation from each other in hopes they would appreciate the other more. Mommy and Nini date (check out the cotton candy!)


My overnight date with Nini:

1 bucket of candy corn
2.5 movies
macaroni and cheese
BK chicken nuggets
Walking to the mall
sleeping with mommy
One on one swimming walking to and from the swimming pool together
getting friends to herself
Talking with Grandma without Cici
Searching the internet for Halloween Costumes
Looking for Superman books.
Telling mommy about all the things she wants to build.





Cici's overnight date with Daddy:

Watching movies down to the cabin
Shopping with daddy.
Ice cream at Mac's.

Hot dogs, spaghetti O's mixed with Ravioli's for dinner.

Movie night.
Sausage patties, scrambled eggs, and toaster strudel for breakfast
36 holes of miniature golf
Watched areal ski exposition in Lake Placid, NY
Chair lift up to highest ski jump.
Looked at view.
Chairlift down.
Picked blackberries at cabin.
More Mac's ice cream and home.


This weekend we split again and Cici stays with me and Nini goes with Craig. It was wonderful to have this time together.


Have you done an overnight date with your child?

20 comments:

Amanda said...

those are some awesome overnighters! what fun traditions. i'm hoping to have one with posey for her 8th bday in NYC next month.

dani said...

hi, michelle:) what a wonderful idea!!! i bet the girls loved it and will look forward to many more of the same.
given that have only ever had one daughter, we have had a lot of overnighters:D and, katherine used to go out on a "date" one night a week with just john and her to eat mexican... OLE!!!
love,
dani

Barb said...

I know I probably drove right past your cabin when we drove to NY. I thought of you when we drove past the Ausible signs.
Building strong children is an ongoing goal of mine as well. Divide and conquer goes a long way.

Christensen Family said...

I realized one day that a lot of the problems I was having with my middle child stemmed from her not getting enough attention. One on one time with her makes such a difference in her behavior. You are doing a great job. Have fun this next weekend.

leanne c said...

I love this idea Michelle,
My husband and myself will have to try this idea as i think my daughter feels that her dad does more things with our son than he does with her thanks for the idea
Take care Leanne

Jan said...

What a great idea. Those will be the memories that will carry them through the tougher times of growing up. Great foundation building. I love the pictures. You are surrounded by such beauty in nature. Have a great week Michelle.

Marmee said...

We do dates, but never thought of over nighters. We'll have to add that to the list, my girls would LOVE IT!

One thing we do is to have a list of things that they "get" to do at certain ages. We read a book called Strong Fathers Strong Daughters (highly recommended) and one of the suggestions was to do mission trips with the girls. So, all our girls will be going on mission trips with their dad when they turn 12. Xuxu is going to China with her dad this spring to work at Amanda's Foster Home in Xi'an.

Another item on our list is dancing lessons....real ballroom dancing. They'll get to sign up for a class with dad with they turn 14. (Dad needs to learn too! ;o) The girls have their lists in their journals, and they look at them often and get excited about what the next year will hold for them!

Carrie and Troy Keiser said...

Nope, never done individual overnighters. {would be kinda hard for us and take week and weeks} Pretty cool concept though. Looks as if the girls enjoyed the one on one time.

SuzanSayz said...

That is such a great idea. I can see how it could also help your twins to feel like more of an individual, instead of one of two. Your family has definatly got it right.

Jenny said...

How wonderful. How I wish that we could do this with our children. But is just not possible to do an over night. Rather we have made it a point to do a daddy/child or mommy/child date. The child plans what they would like to do. Recently I took my 13 1/2 year old shopping for back to school with out sisters or brothers. What made this day different. Was I gave her a dollar amount that she could spend. Then left it up to her to say how she wanted to spend it. I also took her to have her hair done, along with her eye brows waxed. It made her feel good. I could see a differnce in allowing her to say how she wanted her hair done. And having me wait in the waiting area. Along with tellimg me where she wanted to shop and being in control of the money.

Jennfer said...

I'm so happy that you all had a fun time. What a neat thing to do with the girls.
Can't wait to hear all about your next weekend

Melinda said...

What a great idea! We try to do dates one on one with the kids. It helps so much and it is so nice to just give that one child the attention they need.

Munchkins and Music said...

Sounds like you all had a blast! Canada is cool!

Courtney said...

WHAT A GRRREEAAT IDEA!!! I have never thought of this and what fun it sounds like you had! I am totally going to have to steal this one for my kiddos!

Carolee said...

That is such a great idea. Jeff and I talk about needing to do date night so that we can have some individual time with our kids. We just need to stop procrastinating and just do it!! They are only small a short time and before I know it I will have to beg them to spend time with me. That makes me so sad to think about.

Laurie said...

You all did so many fun things! What a great idea.

The monkey bunch said...

That is a great idea. How fun. I think I might get sick on spaghetti-o's and ravioli, but the rest sounds fun!

The family trunk said...

Hi I know Abby I want to become friends!!!
Bye 4 now!♥☺

Redhoodoos said...

You are such a wonderful mommy!! I really love your blog. You seem like such a great person.

Aranne and Dan said...

Very cute.. Both dates sound very fun and I am sure the girls had a great time!