One-on-one.

Anytime I find my kids acting out (beyond the usual, get a good talking to from the firemen, that is), I can typically attribute it to a bit of neglect.  My approach to parenting is largely proactive, but every once in a while I find myself slipping, feeling I've earned that extra bit of privacy at bedtime, or just one more date with dad, etc.  Not that those things are inherently bad, just that they need to be balanced with building relationships with my children.  Invariably, I pay for those periods of "slipping" through my kids behavior and recommit myself to the traditions and routines I've set up to make sure my children are getting the one-on-one time they need.  So what are some of these routines?  I'll list a few of my favorites:

1.  Story time
2. Back scratches
3.  Dates
4.  Piano lessons
5.  Goal-setting

I have friends who make fun of the rigid structure with which I run my household(not in a mean sort of way, just baffled by my compulsive need to "schedule" everything).  Admittedly, it's probably stifling to some.  Truly, though, I am the type that if I do not have a framework in place that guarantees I will spend time with each of my children, it might not happen.  I mean it.  I have the hardest time, and I do mean the hardest time doing nothing.  I'm ALWAYS doing something.  To a fault, perhaps.  Do you know what happens to your relationships when you are always busy?  That is why I schedule time with my children(and my husband, too, incidentally, as unromantic as it is).
And since I've exhausted all the time I have allotted myself to blog today, I'll discuss each of the above "traditions" in detail...in another post.