Do you give your kids leftovers?

What a wonderful discussion topic Imadriscoll! A plus rating for it! My youngest child is now 35; but when I was raising them as a single mom most of the time, I was also working quite a lot. In fact, I worked 2 jobs. It was great if I was able to sit and have a meal with all of them more than twice a week. But I made certain that at least once a month that I had the same day off from both jobs. On that day, all but one of the children would go to school and the other would stay home with me. We would first run errands - go to the grocery, do banking, etc.; and then the rest of the day was OURS! We would go to a McDonald's and make a Plan Of Action as to what we were going to do. A lot depended on their age, but sometimes it was a movie, sometimes it was a picnic, sometimes it was going back home and playing board games and reading, sometimes it was going to the beauty shop. The following month would be another child's turn. This rotation went on for years and those days are still very dear to us. ~Donna

Great question and food for thought....pun intended. ha ha I think I am doing good in giving my kids the first of the picks. I had went back to work and it ended up taking me away from my children so much that I hardly saw them and it was just not working out well. So, I quit that job and ended up taking a job that I wouldn't add to my resume because it is just fast food and hours while my children are in school. But it is an extra few bucks. So, I work only when they are in school and I am here for them until they go to bed. Then if I am not too tired, I might go to the computer or read a book. Which...I will admit that isn't much "me time" but I guess I will get plenty of "me time" when they move out. ha ha

I am a mother of 3 girls and i have to say that there are times they do get my leftovers but for the most part i try to give them some attention each day. school days we sit and do home work well my oldest and i then the books she brings home we read them together all three kids and myself. we also have was we call family movie time. use to my hubby got off work then worked more at home and did not spend time with the kids. then he started spending more time with the kids and i was on the computer more starting up my business. together we desided that we did not need to keep doing this and that the kids would not be little long. now every night after we eat we sit and chat or watch a moive together as a family. computer turns off and shop light's are turned off. FAMILY TIME and since our girls like to dance and all after the movie is over we alway lison to the creadits and the girls do a nice dance show for us. there should never NOT be time for your kids.

This is such a great discussion, congratulations for coming up with this one. It really got me thinking. I have just one child and one of the reasons I think like I don;t want to have another one is because there is so much to give up, main thing being "my time". Yes, what a selfish way to think, I mean what is a little time with the computer or TV or going out as compared to the joys of being a mother again, but honestly, a child does bind you and I am guilty of sometimes getting annoyed for not being able to indulge. When you hear of things like " a child is a 24 hour commitment" it does seem like an exaggeration, but ask parents and they would agree, most of them ! I try and do nothing but pay attention to my baby when she is awake and around but there is a certain schedule i like to follow too, which gives me my personal space and yeah when I am doing things like writing ( I love writing), talking to my friends, i do pay only half the attention and i realized it now when you asked this question. yes, I give my child the leftover attention at times and it makes me feel so guilty.

I will admit that each of my children does not get full attention at all time. There are times I must do other things (like make dinner, do laundry, try to earn extra money) and then they are not first in line but I do try to give each of them special time each day. It is easy to do with my toddler since I'm with her all day. It is harder with my middle schooler but we spend time each evening with me snuggling in bed with her talking about whatever is on her mind. It is nearly impossible with my college aged child because our lives are in such different directions but I try to find time with just her when I can.

I think the amount of attention we give our kids varies from day to day depending on what we are doing,what they are doing and what is happening in our day. It's a very valid point to look at and consider though. You have made me stop and think, thank you. The other question is can we give our children too much attention. I don't think you can but some people might think so.

i know i always make time for my children in the evening when they first get home from school. Then at dinner we talk about everyones day. then we also have are own night time routine.