Quality Time

Last night Hannah and I had the most fun that we have ever had together. Brian was working late and it was just Hannah and Mommy. Brian stays late one night a week since he is a manger. I look forward to picking Hannah up from daycare most of the time but I never really get to enjoy her. I will admit that most of the time I just let her play in the living room while I am getting dinner ready or get online to pay some bills or try to write. Last night I decided to focus all my attention to her.

I turned on some music (Lady GaGa has some good beats and rhythm) and we started dancing and laughing. At first she just stared at the speakers because she had to figure out where the music was coming from of course. Then she started dancing! Instead of just rocking back and forth like she used to when we played music, she is dancing with her legs too. Hannah lifts up her legs and her little body moves up and down. Her dance moves were so intense that she almost hopped! I opened some of her toys from her birthday and had a tea party. Every time her little tea pot started singing a song or said anything, she would turn to me with this big smile and a look of amazement! We practiced her walking and I must say she is getting really good at it. She lets go of whatever fixture she is holding on to and just GOES! Usually she has to have some kind of human target to walk to and I was glad to be that target.

After dinner and some more playtime, she was ready for her bath. I could tell that she was done with playtime because she kept coming up to me and resting her little head on my lap and she patted my legs.

As a working mother, I still feel guilty sometimes about not being with her enough and sending her to daycare. I guess it's just that mommy guilt. I honestly don't think that daddy's get it too much. It's probably because as women we are entirely too hard on ourselves and feel this pressure to be EVERYTHING to EVERYONE! Even though I worked hard in college for my degree and worked even harder in the workplace to get to where I am now, I sometimes wish I could stay at home with Hannah. Unfortunately to support the comfortable lifestyle that we have gotten used to, that really isn't an option. After that night, I realized just how much those few hours that I get to spend with her in the evenings really matter. In the end it's not the QUANTITY of time that we spend with our kids, it's the QUALITY.