It's the Little Things

As September approaches, I've been thinking more and more about 'making the most' of the time I have left where it's just me and the Little Princess. I don't want her to start school with me regretting all the things we didn't do - we've had two days a week all to ourselves for almost three years now (since her big brother started school) and it has been great. Occasionally we go for proper days out but a lot of the time we just potter around locally picking up bits of shopping, having coffee (we are such regulars in our local Costa that one of the barista's asked Little Princess how she'd enjoyed her first swimming lesson the other week), hanging out in the local park, library visits, meeting friends at soft play etc. And then at home we bake, do crafts, read books or simply play.

But.... this awareness of 'time running out' has made me want to do 'more' with her. We've got the whole of London pretty much on our door-step (25 minutes train ride away) and there are loads of child-friendly places in the surrounding areas too. So, I offer the Little Princess a few 'exciting' options of what we can do with our day - the farm park, a trip to the Southbank, the Olympic Park and shopping at Westfield Stratford... and she says "swimming" or "the park". Or "let's go to Costa (again)"...

And, thinking about it, if what she wants to do is go to the park, and stop somewhere for a cake / ice-cream, does that really matter? It's still quality time and spending time together is what is really important. It's the 'time together' that is coming to an end, those 'places' will all still be there in the holidays and we can go as a family, it doesn't just have to be me and her.

So, today we went to the park...

We explored the woods and found a basket swing hidden away, which we had all to ourselves. We balanced along fallen tree trunks, saw the cygnets swimming on the lake, played in the playground and had ice lollies. And, all the time, the Little Princess smiled, laughed and chattered away. There was no rushing around, no panicking about missing the train back and being late for the school run - it was just us, together, having fun.

And so, from now on, it's not about the 'big days out' - if she wants to go somewhere special then that's great, but I've realised that we need to spend time appreciating the little things too.