"Don't forget me!"

I think one of the biggest struggles for me - and maybe any mom will a new second child - is making sure that my oldest is still getting some one-on-one time with mommy. I psoted before about how we let her spend a couple weekends at my parents, partially as a special treat and partially to let me settle in with baby K. And she loved that - it really was special. But I still worry about her feeling neglected here at home. Before the new baby came, everything was all about her - she was more than just "my job" - she was my life. Everything I did pretty much revolved around her. Now, things aren't like that. She's still one of the most important things in my life, and I still spend lots of time taking care of her needs and wants. But now there's a 3rd person in the mix, and I get the feeling that as much as loves on and kisses on her new baby brother, she somewhat resents not getting all the attention anymore. 

Now, don't get me wrong; there are a lot of benefits to not giving one child all of your attention. We've all heard about the cliche only child, who's spoiled and doesn't know how to share or play with others. This is not what you want for your child, and that's part of the reason we wanted another child "so soon" (according to some people) - because we wanted Aria to learn that the world does not revolve around her. And so far, she's doing very well with that fact. More to come on that in a later post.

Anyways, I was feeling guilty about not spending as much time with her. She gets sad when I'm sitting there nursing the baby and she can't climb in my lap. She doesn't like it when she has to be quiet because the baby is sleeping, and she's never had to be quiet in our house before. :) And I'm sad I can't spend as much time playing with her as I used to. So on Sunday night, I decided to make a "mommy - A-bug date" out of an ordinary grocery run. As many of my regular-type readers know, A loves her some Meijer shopping. She always has. It also helps that there's always the thrill of riding the penny horse at the end of the shopping trip. We had fun zipping around the aisles looking for a couple random items; saying "weeeee!" with a toddler in your cart is always a surefire way to get a big smile outta your little one. :) After checking out and riding Sandy, the penny horse, we stopped by Wendy's for a frosty and "booger cheese" (cheeseburger.) Because we really didn't have anywhere else to be that night, I decided to "eat in" with her and her happy meal, and we had a great time chilling while she chowed down on her burger and frosty. She and I "chatted" and she amused half the restaurant by yelling "Go Tigers! Yay!" when a guy in a Tigers' hoodie walked by. 

It really wasn't a big deal of a date; Meijer and Wendy's really aren't all that special or out of my way, but to A, it was some much-needed alone time with mommy. No baby brother to be taking up mommy's arms or time, no screaming to make her nervous, none of us telling her to be careful around baby K's bouncy seat. Just me and her.

Riding the horsey at Meijer.
She was actually a lot more excited than she looks lol.

Working on her burger and Frosty.
With those 2 favorite things around,
she didn't even touch the fries lol.

It's never easy to pull yourself away from your newborn, but if you have older kids, it's pretty important to let them know that they're still pretty important.