... for Quality Time!

So yesterday as I was trying to leave to head to calling hours for a member of our church, Hannah was lamenting the fact that I was leaving her yet again.  She said, "But Mommy, I wanted to spend quality time with you!" 

Let's set aside the fact that she was begging for my time (oh yeah, big guilt trip there) and start with the fact that she is 6 and is asking for "quality time!"  I had no idea she had ever even heard the phrase.  I asked where she heard that and she said she just made it up and then repeated she wanted quality time with me.  That kid cracks me up!

Now for the guilt trip.  It is true that I don't get to spend as much time with her as I should.  She deserves more time and my best time.  Sometimes, I am so exhausted from work I don't feel like doing anything, so she doesn't get anywhere near that.

So, tonight, after dinner, she was playing by herself and I asked if I could play with her.  She actually started to refuse but then relented.  So much for that quality time, right?  No, in fact, we colored two pictures on the floor.  Then she took before and after pictures of our pictures (the before was before we had written our names and the after was after our names were added, of course).  Then, we looked at pictures from the movie "Brave" and I had to read all the captions.  Then she started playing songs from my iTunes playlist, but she only lets me listen to the first few chords, so it sort of feels like a one contestant version of "Name that Tune."  She even says things like, "Mommy, this is your favorite song," and then switches happily to the next song.  Then we read 2 books.  The second one she read almost completely on her own.  Finally, we ended with about 15 minutes of "Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian" while eating a popsicle.  Funny side note, Hannah has never seen this movie and she still told me to, "watch this! watch this!" at any scene she thought might be interesting. 

So after a quiet evening with Hannah, I have to say that Today I am Thankful for Quality Time!