i DO love you!

on mondays i help out drew and 8 other first graders in an advanced reading type program. (with my friend robin's help of course)

today we read the book koala lou. it's about a little koala who's mom told him all of the time "koala lou, i do love you!" well, as koala lou gained more and more brothers and sisters, koala lou didn't hear that as much. so koala lou decided to be in the olympics, because he was sure then his mom would love him. so ... turns out he doesn't win, but his mom comes through at the end of the story to say that she always has loved him .. always will.

after reading the story we talked about our families. we talked about if the kids had ever felt as though their parents are too busy with their siblings ... and about how we always love them. then we talked about what special things they've done with adults in their lives.

this made me think. as much as i want us to function as a family - i also want my boys to feel like they are each special ... AND most importantly ... i want them to hear me say it. today was a good reminder for me. i want them to know each and every day that there is not an ounce of me that isn't head over heels in love with them. that things may get crazy with 3 of them ... but that doesn't change how i feel. i was reminded that i need to take the time to show them individually how i feel!

i'm not sure where it was, but i read somewhere that a good idea was on the day of the month that your child was born on ... to make that their day. to take them for a meal, or to do something special, on that 1 day of the month. so for example, ben is the 8th. so every month on the 8th, either stacey or i would take him out one on one ... for a meal, or even just a starbucks :) i thought it was a good idea at the time, but never actually DID it. well, i'm thinking now might be a good time to start.

afterall, the olympics seem like a far stretch - and doing something special with each of them once a month seems like a lot less work.