When I found out that I was pregnant with a girl (Miss Smoopy) in 2004, I started some serious praying about my relationship with her. Creating a strong bond filled with trust & honesty has remained one of my primary goals for my relationship with her for the past 6 1/2 years. I've work tirelessly at it. And at this point, I'd say that I've been successful. I can see how God has granted us an wonderful ability to communicate and given her a comfort and desire to tell me everything. At this point, I feel as if our relationship is right where I hoped it would be. Now, she is still young, but I believe that this strong foundation is critical to navigating the tougher years well.
My other daughter (Miss Giggles) has been a little more challenging to bond with due to our circumstances. She was 4 years old when she came into our family. And she came with 3 of her brothers, so I didn't have the luxury to focus solely on bonding with her as I did with Miss Smoopy. She also has challenges to overcome as she learns to trust me and feels safe to tell me things just because of what she's experienced with past relationships (birth mom abandoning her, etc). But my goal of building a strong bond with her is still there...and I'm determined to give it all I can so that I have some chance of helping her through the teenage years.
So, I've been thinking about how to do this. Of course, the day to day interactions and responses that I give them are the most critical. However, when we're at home, I also have 3 other kiddos that need my time, energy, and attention. As I've praying through this, I've realized that creating strong, vivid, positive memories with my girls goes a long way. With this in mind, I planned our first Girls' Trip!
What a wonderful treat it was to have a couple of days to focus on them and just have fun together! They're old enough that they packed independently (using a list I gave them) and could hardly contain their excitement about our trip!
We started out with breakfast at one of our favorite spots, and then headed to the mall. We enjoyed everything we did together. No whining, no asking for things over and over, no arguing, no correcting. Just smiling and giggling and enjoying time with each other!
From there, we checked into an amazing resort nearby. We jumped on the bed, got fancy for dinner, & skipped down the hallways. It was perfect!
For 36 hours, all we did was enjoy being together. It went so well that we immediately decided we must make it an annual tradition.
What a blessing and step in the right direction with my sweet daughters!
It is the bonds that we build with our children when they are young that give them the strength to trust others when they become adults.
ReplyDeleteI love traditions and an Annual Girl's Trip sounds great.