Sweet Spot

Middle Child has claimed french-style bakery and restaurant La Madeleine as "our" spot. It has also perhaps lent a slightly uppity tone to some of her comments to her siblings that she and Mom have a spot, while the siblings do not have any particular place to claim. She has a tendency to need more, or at least to need more vocally, than her siblings. It makes it a little more challenging to meet the needs of The Boy and Little Bit because they are not as in-your-face as Miss Kate about their needs.

As the trio get older, one-on-one time becomes more precious to me (and quite possibly to them as well based on their response to the offering of such a thing). It also becomes less attainable with the hectic schedules that are created when taking into account all the activities, appointments, jobs, classes, volunteerism times, chores, meals, etc. vying for slots in the calendar. Much as some creative solutions have allowed the mister and I to combine our weight management, pet care, stress relief, and couple time (We walk the dogs together before the kids wake up in the morning.), there are likely some similar options that can be found for the kids--- especially with Summer just a couple of weeks away. Surely the one-on-one time with the lovies can be arranged--- especially if one keeps an eye out for the odd unexpected opportunity.

For example, the mister is out on Wednesday mornings to meet his accountability partners at a local coffee shop after the tween and teen leave for school. Normally, I would be meeting my walking buddy for our three-mile trek, but I'm under the weather and not so energetic. So, instead of the usual push to walk extra miles, Little Bit and I drove over with the mister to the shopping center that houses his meeting place. We parked in front of the coffee shop, and he went in to meet the guys. Erin and I crossed the parking lot and entered a bakery. Erin "oohed" and "ahhed" over the assorted treats (and was both horrified and amused when, with her lazy listening skills, she heard a woman order two wild "boogary" muffins), but we stuck with an order of coffee (mine) and hot chocolate (hers) which she dubbed, "coffeecino" since the gentleman at the register wisely gave my girly the same kind of cup as Mom.

We sat in comfy chairs at the back sipping our drinks and reading from Mark. She was tickled to hear that we were sitting in the very same seats that were occupied on another trip to the same shop with a grown-up friend. She shared a scenario from her imagination of what Mom's grown-up coffee meeting might look like and how it was similar to ours. After we finished our reading and chat, we headed out to put our Bibles in the car and spent a good twenty minutes walking around the shopping center and talking about inconsequential things. Erin is already making bids for another trip to the bakery, but next time she wants to have breakfast. Looks like we have Our Spot.