This one right here.  Today, she says to me, “Mommy, I feel unimportant.”

We had to have Bible study at home so that baby girl could have a moment with mommy. The boys went out to church, and she and I had some Mommy-daughter time.  She had several mini-meltdowns today, so I asked her if she’d like to stay home with me and relax a little, and she was all for it.

So Mr. Social has his blog, and she wants one too. The more he talks about his blog, makes coloring sheets, sets up his appointments, the more annoyed she becomes with everything he does. We talked about how God’s laws are written on our hearts and in our minds, so that even if you don’t have the Bible with you, you can still know and feel what is right and what is wrong.

We chatted about the obvious commandments, like stealing and idolatry, then we moved on to the less talked about, covetousness. I asked her how she felt when Mr. Social talked about his blog.  She wasn’t happy for him.  I asked if she felt good about how she reacted to his good news.  She said it didn’t feel good to be mad.  I asked her if she would want him to be happy for her when she was able to start a blog, and she said yes.  So then I asked her how it would feel to tell Mr. Social, “Great job, I’m proud of you,” when he did something for his blog – and she smiled.

We practiced. The more she worked on compliments for Mr. Social’s blog, the happier she got.

Once our private Bible study was over, she took an extra long bath, washed her hair, got a short foot massage with her favorite peppermint lotion, twisted her hair, and finished dinner – all before the boys got home from church.  The boys immediately noticed a change in her attitude, and didn’t even try to upset her like they usually do. They sat down to dinner together, had friendly dinner conversation, cleared the table, and got ready for bed.

Every now and then, each one of my kids needs their “moment with Mommy.” Before bedtime prayers, Mr. Social asked when he could have his “hang out day” – I guess I’d better get his date on the calendar.

What do you do to make your kids feel special? Do you do anything interesting with them when you have one on one time?