What I pride myself on as a parent, especially as a Stay-at-Home working mommy is being intentional with my son in our quality time and education time. For me, that shows love to my son, that I his mother, cares enough about his emotions, development and overall success as a boy and future man in this society. It’s that he had a mother that was intentional in their relationship where he felt loved, valued, listened to and considered. So when we found out that we were welcoming a new little one in our family this year, I immediately thought to myself, how can I make this time with my big boy intentional and meaningful so that he doesn’t feel left out or forgotten in the shadows. I talked with my husband about this and he was very understanding and supportive of me in my desires. So we talked about what that intentialty looked like for us in the 9 months we had left with being a family of 3. We wanted to make it special for Duce filled with experiences. So that meant family outings, Mommy and son time, Daddy and son time, and even a special “gift” here and there at times. 😌
Check out what intentional quality time with our big boy looked like for us this year, as we prepared him for the arrival of his baby brother. These times were so special for us, and I hope that they spark ideas of adventure for your family as well as you strive for intentionality with your children!
- WildLife Safari-This was so interesting for us all. Duce loved being able to sit on Mommy’s lap and look at all the wild animals and feed them as Daddy drove. We laughed a lot and were in amazement at all the animals.
- Sea World-Duce loves SeaWorld! The sea animals of course keep him in awe, but he also loves the activities for kids, like Bay of Play, the splash pad and ice cold club that is always having a dance party that he jams out in. Music and flashing colorful lights? Who wouldn’t dance!
- San Antonio Zoo-Trips here to see his favorite animals, enjoy play dates at the mini beach and even some trick or treating!
- Splash Pads-Hot summers in Texas means we go to the splash pad often for play dates or just mommy and Duce time. Duce loves to explore on the playground, jump in the water and go down the big slides.
- Community Activities for Kids-These are plentiful here in San Antonio, which is why I love this city so much. Duce was able to participate in a transportation carnival, Baby Shark meet and greet, Rainbow play yard day and art day for kids at a painting studio.
- Summers in Dallas-Spending time with his cousins is always a blast for Duce because they get together and take over your local trampoline park, birthday party, jungle indoor playground, museum and more!
- Movies-Duce got the opportunity to experience the movie theater this summer with Mommy and Daddy for the first time! Though we were nervous as parents, that he would not enjoy it, wanting to leave early or even fall asleep, boy did he prove us wrong!
- Duce loved seeing Toy Story and Lion King and stayed up the entire time for both movies! He was amazed and fully entertained! We loved seeing his joy and looks of awe as he watched both movies!
- Dinosaurs-Not the real thing, but almost like it! The Witte Museum here in San Antonio has an extensive dinosaur and wild animal life exhibit that has exact replicas!
- It was quite fascinating for Mommy and Daddy…Duce…not so much! 😂He was terrified by some of the animals because they looked so real! Let’s just say we went through the exhibits FAST! 😂
- Corpus Christi, Texas-We couldn’t end our special time as family of 3 without a family trip to Corpus Christi for the infamous Texas State Aquarium and Beach! Duce loves animals so seeing all the aquarium animals and getting to explore their habitats was so fun for him!
- Not to mention the splash pad that him and Daddy dominated!
- Beach time at sunset was so beautiful and fun for us as we ran from the waves, played in the sand and watched the sunset.
- Fall Festivals-We wrapped up the fall with some awesome festivals put on by churches in the area. Duce got the chance to pick out pumpkins for him and his brother, trick or trunk and jump like crazy in many bounce houses as Lightning McQueen!
My husband and I had such a blast spending time with our little boy exploring and having adventurous outings during our 9 months before baby brother arrived. We were determined to make his one-on-one time with us a time to remember full of smiles, laughter and pure black boy joy! The amazing thing about the wild extravaganzas we had with Duce during this year of experiences is that it reminded us how important and even more valuable experiences are than the toys we all love to buy our kids. They are memories sketched in our hearts for a lifetime. Brandon and I are committed to continuing to spend one-on-one time with our big boy Duce. When new siblings enter the family it can be easy and understandable at times for parents to focus all their attention on the new addition. However, life and love is about being intentional and that is what we are striving to do everyday with our boys. After all, God makes our hearts bigger as he blesses us with more children, so that we never run out of love to give them.
Comment and share how you are intentional with spending individual time with your children to make them feel special and loved. And how did you make those last months with your first born special before the arrival of their sibling?
~Soli deo Gloria💜
Copyright © 2019 by Da’Quisha Whitaker
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the writer.
Her-Shey Mommy Chronicles 