Quality time

I had the great pleasure of spending Saturday morning with Isabelle while B took Hannah to hippotherapy. Although initially I was a little resistant to separating the girls, these opportunities to be with just one of them at a time have been so special for me. Especially my time with Isabelle. I often feel like Hannah gets more of my time and attention, so it did my heart good to be able to focus all of my energies on Ms Belle for a few hours.

We spent the morning wandering around the metro area near where we live, checking out the live music in the main square (it was the weekend of JazzFest), scoping out the spring goodies on display at the Farmer's Market, and generally doing things on Isabelle time. It had rained the night before so she was big into jumping in puddles and I let her take as much time doing that as she wanted. She also spotted a fountain in the park and let out a huge, "Aaahhhhh" as she raced toward it. I guess fountains are all the rage of the toddler set. We didn't have an agenda and I worried a little that she'd feel short-changed by not having a big adventure like she did last weekend when B took her to the aquarium/science center. But I don't think she did. She was happy and tantrum-free and low-key the entire time we were together.

I'm so glad that hippotherapy forced us to do this "special alone time" thing a little earlier than we may have otherwise, and that it's happening during the warm weather months. There are so many things that I do with both girls and while we all have fun and get a lot out of it, I'm often feeling like neither of them are having the maximum experience. I know, I know...that's life and I'm sure it will make them better people for it (learning to share, wait their turn, be patient, blahblahblah) But the bottom line is that I sometimes feel sad that I never had the opportunity to mother one child at a time, or to mother two children who are typically developing. So these times alone with each girl are really therapeutic for me. And the time with Isabelle is especially helpful in assuaging some of the guilt I feel about the way that she is often sidelined by Hannah's therapies, appointments, and additional needs.

In short, special alone time rocks.