"Mom, come play with me!"

I struggle. I struggle to sit and play pretend with my kids. Whether it's playing house, or "My Little Pet Shops" or Barbie-type dolls... I really struggle.

My 6 year-old daughter called me on it this morning.

"Mom," she said, "I don't want to go to school today. I just want to play with you! When you play with us, you always leave during the game!"

Busted.

Yesterday I braided the little pony's hair for a while but got called away by the beeping washing machine to put the load in the dryer... It never fails... when I actually do manage to sit and play "pretend" games, I so easily get distracted by the work I see all around me... the piles of laundry waiting to be folded, the kitchen needing to be cleaned, the garbage or green bin bursting at the seams and needing to be put out, or the dinner requiring preparation... or realizing that the baby will be up soon from her nap so I don't have much time left to get "stuff" done! I truly don't mean to wander, but I unintentionally do it all the time!

Am I so task oriented and bent on efficiency that I have absolutely no imagination cells left in my brain? My sleep deprived state doesn't help I'm sure... I've never gone 10 months with only 3-4 full nights of sleep the entire time (it might actually be less then that! I sure didn't experience that with the first 2!).

I also find it so easy once Julia is home from school to rationalize taking advantage of the girls entertaining one another so that I can finally get some work done in the house or on the computer! They can play together content for quite some time, playing school or mommy or some other imaginative game... but in they end... they still want mommy... and I, mid-thought... mid-task... get frustrated needing "just one more (never ending) minute" to finish this "one" thing!

Don't get me wrong, I love to stop and spend quality time with my girls, but I prefer things like baking, making puzzles or working in activity books together, or going for bike rides and walks in the park where we can "explore" nature (an all time favourite for my girls!), or blasting the tunes and having a silly dance party in the kitchen before dinner (usually when daddy's not around!)

So many things to do in the day... and the years are flying by so FAST! I pray that I can learn to stop and play more. I think the solution is that, in addition to our regular bed time stories, cuddles and chats which I love (most nights, lets be honest), here it is:

I need to be more intentional about carving out time on a regular basis for activities we ALL enjoy.

That way, they might not feel so neglected when I struggle to bring myself to play pretend. It's not going to get any easier as I head back to work again in the fall, with more work tugging me away... so I better get in the habit of routinely carving out that time for them, one-on-one and together, NOW.

This morning I promised Julia that I'd have dinner ready ahead of time, so that when she got home from school we could go to the park, or play with sidewalk chalk or in the backyard together - her choice - no distractions. I kept my end of the deal and prepared a casserole while getting lunch ready. In the end, we had an awesome time at the park (which rarely happens on rushed school days with her bus not dropping her off until 4:30). The baby enjoyed the swings and the sand, the other two loved the swings and climbing around... the sun was shining, the sky was blue... it made both her day and mine.

I love my girls.

Why do I find it so hard to stop to enjoy more these moments?

More frequent planning ahead and carving time out for activities we all enjoy... Got it. Now I just need to remember that!