3 Clever Ways to Bond With Your Daughter While Getting Stuff Done

Like many parents, I’m a busy mom, time and money strapped and continuously being pulled in a hundred directions at once. With meals to prepare, homework to review, playdates to plan, sports activities to chauffeur, it is all too easy to plow through the day focused on completing task after task. Especially at this time of year, it is a challenge to find the time and energy to create those special bonding moments with your daughter. Here is a quick list of 3 easy (and clever) low-cost ways to bond with her right now while still getting stuff done:

· Mother and Daughter Spa Night – She needs to get clean anyway, right? Pick a special night and take a few extra minutes to make bath time an event rather than a chore. Light some scented candles in the bathroom and dim the lights (my daughter likes strawberry scented). Fill the tub extra high and generously scoop in bubble bath. Who doesn’t feel like a princess immersed in a tub brimming over with bubbles? Most of all, relax and don’t rush. My daughter, Brooke, tells me all sorts of things about her day during spa night that we never seem to find time to talk about during the day. Afterward, we don robes and paint each other’s toenails and fingernails with glittery nail polish.

· The Grocery Store – I despise the grocery store. That said, taking along my five-year-old daughter makes this grueling task a little more bearable. We actually have an enjoyable time and she gets excited when food rations run low. First, I take a deep breath and reset my mind to understanding this will not be a quick trip in and out of the store. Brooke and I exchange kisses after successful completion of every aisle, she proudly reads the labels of words she knows, we discuss the important aspects of her kindergarten day while contemplating cereal choices. Sometimes we snack along the way, getting free meat and cheese samples at the deli and a cookie at the bakery. At check-out, she proudly helps the cashier unload the cart and hands her Mommy’s credit card (every little girl should know the basics of credit card use at an early age!)

· Laundry – Is there a more thankless task than laundry? And where does it come from? I secretly think my husband and kids take handfuls of clean clothes and toss them into the hamper just to torment me. Many little girls, including my daughter, want to help Mommy do everything, including the laundry. (They don’t yet understand their future life with be filled with mountains of it.) Brooke loves to be my helper by scooping the laundry soap (a.k.a. ‘sugar’) into the washer. When its folding time, I again have to reset my brain to knowing that the clothes are not going to be folded exactly the way I like them and this is going to take awhile. She helps me pull items out of the basket and folds her own things. She tells me which clothes are her favorites and recounts the interesting thing that happened to her at school while she was wearing her tie-dye shirt. She also confides that she doesn’t want to wear her Pooh tee shirt anymore because a boy in her class teases her. She takes the clothes to her room herself and puts them away. They never get into the right drawer and they are hopelessly crumpled by this time, but that is not the point. I can live with wrinkled clothes in order to spend some special time with her.

Take a break from your day of task completion and enjoy your time together!