I spend a lot of my after school time on the computer doing some homework assignment or sitting down with some assigned reading for the next day's class. I'm not a very fast reader and I usually take quite a bit of time to do homework, so I have to dedicate a good part of my day to doing this. Plus I get distracted way too easily and I waste time.
Unfortunately for my daughter Marie, this means that I often have to tell her that I don't have time to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" with her for the fifth time or watch Land Before Time. I've always felt a little guilty about it and try to dedicate a portion of my time every day to playing with her or doing something she wants to do. We play dinosaur or prince and princess or we run around and play airplanes or do tea parties. It's always a lot of fun for both of us.
Today was a little different than the usual day. With term papers and unit plans coming up, I decided that today I didn't have time to play with my daughter and was just going to work on homework to get as much done as I could. Yes, I felt bad about it but I had rationalized it so I was good to go. Then, my dad calls me. He tells me about a house in Pleasant Grove that has lights coordinated to music they broadcast and that I should take Marie to see the lights. Marie is 3 and she's at that point where everything is new enough to seem so magical to her but old enough to understand it and enjoy it and remember it too. I couldn't resist. It was at this point 7:30 and I was just about to put her to bed, but I decided to get some warm clothes on her and take her to see the Christmas lights. She loved it. The first song we saw was Jingle Bells (which just happens to be her favorite) and that was followed by traditional and non-traditional Christmas songs. Every time ended she would turn to me and say, "One more Daddy?" How could I resist? I'll admit it. I'm a pushover with my daughter. I just hope it takes her many years to realize it.
The light show was fun and my daughter had a great time. We spent maybe 30 minutes watching the lights and she ended up getting to bed almost an hour late (I'm usually pretty strict with her bedtime). So, I maybe lost about 45 minutes of solid homework time, but I gained a great experience with my daughter. 45 minutes was worth it. Sometimes you have to step back and take time to enjoy the little things with those you love.
No comments:
Post a Comment