The joy of spending one-on-one time with my girls

Last night was night one of two, where I took one girl ice skating downtown at our Holidays on Ice outdoor ice skating rink. Tonight will be part two in the making, with my oldest daughter getting her turn at an outing with just mom.

I must say, Knoxville does it up right during Christmastime. Downtown is filled with lights. It is beautifully festive, bustling with shoppers, diners and holiday cheer. I was most cheery about taking my five-year-old out just me and her, for an after dinner treat on the ice.

I don’t do these one-on-one date nights enough with my girls. But every time I do, I am reminded of how important it is. With three children, spending time with just one child doesn’t happen often. Not only do they ask for the one-on-one attention, I love giving it. I also love the lessons I learn from them during our time together.

This quirky, full of life girl with the bouncy curly hair teaches me to live big – just as she does. She has big emotions, big smiles, takes life by the hand and doesn’t look back. While skating she clung to holding my hand at first. Then she learned falling is not so scary and that it’s how we learn to stand on our own.

Of course she took it one step further to not only feeling the bump on her bottom of a fall, but scooping some of the powdery, snowy ice up from the rink and tasting it too. She laughed and said it was great. It was not exactly the kind of snow cone I had in mind. But sometimes we learn more when we “just go it,” as my feisty five-year-old told me recently.

Then, as she gained more confidence on the ice, she beamed with delight as she skated without holding my hand – being brave enough to do it on her own. This girl has eyes that burst with joy. Her smile goes from her lips to her toes and her heart rockets out of her soul with a love that is kind and bold.

It was a knock down, topple over, good ol’ wet time on the ice. And it was an eye opener, once again, that I need to spend more one-on-one time with my girls. It’s not always convenient, it usually has to be planned and last night it meant staying out way past her bedtime.

No mater the time, the cost, or the activity – one thing is for sure, I never regret doing it.