Hi folks, I've been hunting for ideas to have some one-on-one time with my baby who is now a BIG girl. When she was a baby I stayed at home and my entire life revolved around her. As she grew older, we did the library story times, gymboree classes etc. We even had a special lunch date every week, just me and her. Then she started school and I started work. Our weekly lunches became a rarity over the weekdays. I still managed to get time off work and take her out for lunch once or twice a month to her favorite restaurant. We then started doing weekend activities together - started with lunches. I then realized my "baby" loves to shop just like Mom:thumbsup We started going on special shopping trips together. I also started taking her out occasionally for a movie and lunch followed by some window shopping. I like spending time with her at home but LOVE our time together outdoors. Now that she is older, it feels just like me and my sis years ago! This weekend I would like to do something extra special with her. I really want to surprise her with something different. The usual movie and shopping etc is fun but she will guess that in a minute. Do you folks have any ideas as to what we could do? A friend of mine suggested getting mani/pedis together but I'm really not for it at the moment(she is yet to turn 9). I want something fun that is more age appropriate for her. Please pour in your suggestions. Regards, Laks
Laks, weekend is here almost but here's what I feel.... 1. you could go trekking/hiking with her or do camping if you are upto it. 2. See if you can join a hobby class (I know who gives a class on a long weekend!!!) 3. A trip to her favorite museum - our art museum has an area where a family can do any kind of art work, they provide material for free and the family gets to keep the artwork!! 4. A nice picnic in the park and then may be a petting zoo with pony rides and things like that. Amusement parks may not offer as much one on one time I feel. 5. Ofcourse shopping but may be with an agenda of changing her room or a similar type!! 6. Labor day fire works???? Just you/her early with some ice cream and eating and laughin? Well, now I think I have run out of ideas.....I wasn't sure if you were looking for a day or for the whole weekend but....
Laks.. i so much wanted to write here earlier, not to give ideas, but just to say you are a sweet mom. your daughter is very lucky to have a mom who thinks so much about her even when she isn't around. now that i am here, how about some sport activities together? i am not there yet, my dd is 4 years old... but she loves it when i play along with her in the playarea. silly it may sound.. but when i swing alongside.. kind of making it look like a competition who can swing the highest she just loves it. and all the jumping etc if i do and play around talking to her like a friend of her age. if yours is someone like that, how abt some age appropriate outdoor sport as a hobby ?? sorry nothing big.. but am all ears.
Srama, Thanks for the list of activities. I'd love to do trekking/hiking with her. I'm sure Dad will accompany too!!! I miss the art museums I don't think there are any that encourage kids to do art work here. Let me ask around. Shopping for her room makeover is a good idea. I'll probably do that for her B'day which is months away! I need to convert her princess room to a big girl room anyway! I miss the labor day fireworks too. Hope you get to enjoy with family. Asha, Thanks for the FB. You made my day! We used to go to parks on our own and she used to love it but now its always her and her friends in the play park in our apartment. She is sort of embarrassed if I tag along I may take her to one of the big parks outside and have fun! Thanks for the tips, please keep them coming.
Laks, So sweet of you. your big girl is really lucky.. hmm, srama has given lot of ideas..I would look at some historical/architectural tours if your kiddo loves history or culture. even botanical garden conducted class if she is into plants. baking classes.(??) together for the fun of it. what about moms and me classes in your place.. these days most metros' are having these mom and me classes. i know one of my friend's friend joined ballet classes along with her dd and the dd was proud of it.. will your like you tagging along or is she into ballet and stuff.. if she loves art, you can call up some art school for classes..like right now it is ganapthi festival next week and there area classes for making eco-friendly ganapathi's all around..just check them out. you could check out go-karting, bowling....:hide:..
Shanthi, Thanks for stepping in here. Baking classes sounds like fun! Let me check some out. I didn't realize we had Mom and Me classes for this age group. Let me ask around about that. I'd love to do some Mom and Me stuff. Now I'm not all that brave to do the ballet I did see a poster on our notice board about the Eco Friendly Ganesha making class. Let me see if we can do it together. Thanks again for the suggestions. L
hey laks, maybe i can be of some help.... no i am not a mom of a big girl yet, but me and my sister have a huge age gap, 16 yrs! so wen she was around 7-8 yrs old i would have day out with her.....its been a while now, now she is almost a teenager... i would do the following, ask her to help me pack food for picnic, and we would go to the Zoo, boothouse, etc and have a day out. Hobby ideas have these classes wherein u can paint/ do some pottery, etc with ur kids.. I took her there and we both painted our mugs and made some pots too... it was fun. we went together to waterparks , planetarium, aquariums.... museum. we also woould go together to salon, and i would get her head massage and haircut done...wen i got my stuff done too... she enjoyed being treated as a big girl every time we went to the supermarket, i would get her a small basket too and while i did the shopping she would buy stuff for her, and dump them in her little basket. now this was wayyyy back. i am so much waiting for my lil girl to grow up! yesterday we went to ruci and idoni, and there they have toddler shopping carts, wen i saw moms and kids shopping in their respective carts, it was fun to watch
I have no ideas, but just wanted to say that you are all wonderful!! My mom never did this with me, and I never thought about it until now ......thank you God for my sweet little girl and this forum!!
Poonam - Wow, you were a fun big sister to have! Thanks for the tips. I loved the picnic basket idea. Planetarium/aquarium/museum sounds fun. I think the aquarium would be a big hit! Getting her hair massage and cut is a wonderful idea too. I'm sure your sister enjoyed each of the activities! Yup, when DD was little we shopped together and those toddler carts were wonderful! Of course, now she pushes the big cart for me. You'll definitely love the shopping sprees with DD in a few more months! We started when she was 18 months old. Suman - My Mom didn't do much either but she was always around doing everything for us on a daily basis. I guess with changing times, we are having to make an effort to get quality time with our kids.