A Peek Inside Our Life: A Weekend With My Daughter
As a parent, we tend to look at how we parent with blinders on. We make it up as we go, reference the way we were raised, and are so idealistic that we forget that our best resource is that we can watch and learn from parents around us. Diamond Parents is about forming a collective family of mothers and fathers, no…mommies and daddies, for the purpose of sharing experiences with one another to help parents look at parenting from different angles. Here is how a weekend typically plays out with my daughter…
Friday
As I drive to my daughter’s mother’s house to pick up my little girl, my heart begins to fill with excitement and love. I turn on the Disney songs that her and I jam out to in the car, just to pump myself up even more to see her beautiful face. At this point, even a day without my little girl has me missing her deeply…imagine 4 days.
I finally pull into the driveway, as my little girl walks out of the house, I hear her yell, “Daddy!” She has a huge smile on her face as she runs into my arms. After I get an update from the week from her mother, I load her in the car and we talk about our last few days apart. After catching up with one another, then comes the Disney songs and dancing in the car on the way to get dinner.
A enjoy taking my daughter out to a restaurant on Fridays; it’s something special we do since we’ve been apart 4 days at this point. Small talk and joking around is typically what occurs with a 4 years during these meals…very entertaining! After dinner, we head home and I get her ready for the night: bath and snack. We end our night with her snack and a movie cuddling on the couch until bed time, which first comes reading her a book right before.
Saturday
As I have mentioned, time with my little girl is very precious to me. I don’t like to waste the time I have. So I usually like to start the day with a well prepared or healthy breakfast to set the tone for the day. If we are cooking eggs, she will help me cook…she loves to crack and stir the scrambled eggs. Then we eat our breakfast to whichever movie or show she picks out.
My daughter wakes up very early, so after breakfast, we have plenty of time to finish the show or movie and play for a hour or two in her room with her toys before nap time. Yes, fathers out there, this means that princesses and Barbie are definitely in the picture. Suck it up and enjoy :)
Lunch comes after her nap and then the fun begins. Saturdays mean that we have the entire day together to do anything we can imagine. This may mean the park, some event or activity, visiting family or friends, etc. The point is to make the day fun and memorable.
Our nights usually end the same; a movie and snack before a book and bed.
Sunday
On Sundays, we wake up early as usual and have an easy breakfast involving something along the lines of yogurt, oatmeal, fruit, or cereal. This is the day I drop her off to her mother’s later that night, so we try and relax and just be together without running around or huge plans. Crafting is a go-to for these days, also one of our favorite activities to do together.
The regular happenings still occur: nap, lunch, dinner, and bath. Somewhere in the mix of the day, we play in her room a little more or go to the park. If we are pretty energetic, dance parties in the living room to Disney music is never off limits.
Now comes the part that breaks our hearts every single Sunday…taking her back to her mother’s for the next 4 days. I will not get into the sadness that occurs or how she is on the drive there; that is between a daddy and daughter. Just before we get to her mother’s house, we talk about all of the fun we had that weekend and our possible plans for the following weekend. I always leave my daughter with a kiss, hug, and something super silly to make her laugh one last time before I leave. That look of admiration and love in her eyes for me as she is laughing and watching me walk away smiling at her is the stuff of dreams!
That is my weekend with my daughter summed up. A peek into our life together.
Disclaimer
I want to let all parents know that not every moment is magical. My little girl does get in trouble if need be. Weekend or not, parents have to understand that they are still parents and have the responsibility to raise that child and teach them right from wrong. Single parents need to be as impactful on their children as much as possible with the limited time they have.
There are some days, although rarely, that we spend the entire weekend at home doing crafts and playing with toys together if I have had an exhausting week. Granted, I still always make value of our time together the rare times this does happen. Everything doesn’t have to be perfect, but memories should be made, impacts should occur, and the bond will naturally grow.
I hope my story let’s parents think about certain things at a different angle. We all can grow from one another’s experiences and parenting styles :)
